Russet
by CourtneyHowlett
Summary: Bella returns to Forks as a human, having separated from Edward. Jacob's continued with his life and essentially forgotten about the girl that he was irrevocably in love with just years before. But when he sees her again, things change drastically. Bella realizes that the russet wolf means a whole lot more to her than she thought. [AU, J/B] Rated M for a reason.
1. Chapter 1

_Russet_

**Summary: Bella returns to Forks as a human, having separated from Edward.**__**Jacob's continued with his life and essentially forgotten about the girl that he was irrevocably in love with just years before. But when he sees her again, things change drastically. Bella realizes that the russet wolf means a whole lot more to her than she thought.**

**This story is set after Eclipse and a little bit into Breaking Dawn. There is NO Renesmee (she was not born yet), and Cullen DID propose but there was never a wedding.**

_**Italics**_** are **_**thoughts**_** of either Jacob or Bella.**

**In "Russet" Jacob will have a girlfriend. You'll find out details about her in the upcoming chapters. I'm just stating right now that Jacob will NOT end up with his girlfriend. This is a Jacob/Bella story, not an OC story.**

**Disclaimer: SM owns all except the plot.**

**0o0o0o0o**

He dropped his wrench on the ground, his mouth hanging slack. Those dark eyes seemed to burn holes through her body. She crossed her arms subconsciously, her eyes darting to his.

His brown eyes were no longer soft—they were hard and unwelcoming. He looked different than he had years before. He looked mature. Like a man, and not the same love sick boy she remembered.

She could tell that he hadn't shaved in quite some time due to the stubble that was evident on his chin. His hair had gotten longer over the time she was away. It was wet and tousled from the previous shower of rain.

She chuckled softly to herself. He was always the one to work in torrential downpours of Seattle's frequent rain. The wife-beater shirt that he wore perfectly showed his well-defined muscles and stature. She swore he'd reached seven feet with the way he'd grown.

"Bella?" He breathed her name in awe. Was she really standing there in front of him, or was it all just a horrible hallucination?

"Hi, Jake," she replied in a small voice. She stared at him standing there, looking strong and strikingly handsome as always.

For a second he wanted to move to pick her up in his arms and twirl her around like the reunion he'd always dreamed of himself having with her. But things were different now. Much different. He stopped himself. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see you. See how you were doing," she told him. Bella twirled her fingers, her hair blowing in the wind.

Jake shifted his weight onto his other foot and sighed. "And where's the leech?"

"Gone."

He stared at her deeply, his mouth moving but no words coming out. She looked to the ground, her facing turning a bright shade of scarlet. "What do you mean _gone_? Did he leave you?"

"No." She shook her head rapidly. "No, I left him."

"Why?" he questioned. He was interested in hearing her response, what she would say about her blood-sucking lover that he loathed with every bit of his soul.

"Living with vampires—it was all too much for me. I wasn't ready for eternal life…and I don't think I ever will be." Bella told him truthfully.

Jake shook his head, running a hand through his tousled black hair. "It took you only seven years to figure that out."

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I really am—"

He held up a hand to silence her. "No, I don't want your sympathy. I don't need it. I've moved on."

Her heart sank. "You got a lover of your own?

He nodded his head, rubbing the backs of his hands. "She's my girlfriend. Her name's Zee, and I met her on the Res. I live with her now." He pointed to a small wooden house down the road. "I built that. It's our house."

"And did you imprint on her?" she questioned.

"Nah. Don't think I'll ever imprint. I don't want to," he told her.

"You told me you couldn't help who you imprint on." Bella remarked, walking towards him.

"Can't." He faced her, staring into her big brown eyes. He sucked in a breath; gosh was she beautiful. "I'm not gonna be your second choice anymore, Bella. I was for so many years, waiting for the day when I'd become your first choice, but it never happened."

"I don't want you to be my second choice anymore." Bella told him. "I…"

_It's too late now,_ he thought.

He looked her up and down, inspecting her. Her hair was longer and darker than he remembered, her skin paler. Her eyes were a big, soft brown as always. She wore a green V-neck shirt that hugged her top and middle perfectly. She was always so beautiful, so pure, so innocent.

He smelled the air—it smelled like her perfume, the scent of cherry and sugarcane. He swore that he could get drunk off of that scent, and that he could kiss her pink, pouty lips all day and night without getting bored once.

He snapped his eyes away from her quickly and broke the trance he'd undoubtedly put himself into.

"Go home, Bella." He didn't want to be tempted and teased anymore. He'd accepted the fact that she wasn't his years ago, and he'd do it again.

"Can't we talk? You're my best friend. I've missed you." She walked up to him, standing up straight to her height of 5'4. After all those years she still felt like a twig when compared next to him.

"We have talked. Now go home, Bella. It's late, and Zee will be coming home soon." He pointed her towards her old truck but she steered herself around to look at him.

"It's not late. It's only six o' clock, and I don't have to be back at Charlie's for another hour." She reasoned. "I wanna catch up, Jake. It _has _been three years since I last saw you."

"Four years," he corrected, turning around and back to the car that he was working on.

"Four, whatever. I just miss you."

"I said go home."

"Talk to me, Jacob."

"Go!" He whirled around, startling her half to death and causing her to stumble back. Being that clumsy Bella he'd always remembered, she tripped over the wrench that he dropped and landed on the ground.

Before she could even realize what had just happened, she was bleeding from a large gash in her hand that a decent sized rock had made. She flapped her arms in shock; blood always made her sick, especially her own.

"Shit!" Jake cursed loudly and stormed over to where she was sitting. He scooped her up and hoisted her over his shoulder, carrying her inside of the garage. "Leave it to you to get injured."

He sat her down on a wooden stool and rummaged around in his drawer for a bandage. "You always keep band-aids in your garage?" she asked.

"Workin' with tools can sometimes be risky," he replied. "Ever drilled a hole into your skin, Bella?"

"No," she replied. He chuckled lightly, coming back with the first-aid kit.

"Lemme see," he said, grabbing her hand and inspecting the cut. From the kit he pulled out a disinfecting saline and prepared to pour it on her hand.

She yanked her hand away. "It'll burn," she told him.

"No it won't," he replied, slightly annoyed. "S'just cold." He poured the saline onto her hand, feeling her flinch beneath him. "See? Just like I told ya. Cold."

"I've never really gotten used to cold," Bella told him. He looked up at her, his big black eyes softening slightly.

"Let's face it. No one really likes the _cold_." He placed a large band-aid over the cut and wrapped it with a light layer of gauze. Patting the back of her hand, he stood and returned the first-aid kit from where he got it.

"Thanks, Jake," she told him. "Don't know what I'd do without my Personal Sun."

He froze when he heard the nickname. It pierced him right through the heart, right where it counted. He almost snapped at her, telling her not to call him that. He almost grinned back at her like her "Personal Sun" would and ruffle her hair; he almost broke down and cried at the nickname he'd missed for four years. Jake didn't know which to do, so he just settled with, "You've lived without me long enough."

"Again, I'm so, so sorry."

"_Again,_ I said I don't want your sympathy," he snapped back at her. "I'm happy…and I don't want you to ruin that."

She recoiled as if he'd slapped her across the face with all the force he could muster, the pain evident in her eyes. His shoulders slumped as he realized what he'd said.

She cradled her injured hand, feeling the soft gauze between her fingers. She began to nod her head slowly, trying to get the fact into her head that things between them would most likely never, ever be the same.

She wanted to cry, she wanted to yell, she wanted to throw a tantrum and scream at him. She wanted to pound him with her fists, and smack him across the face, and push him… She wanted to hug him, kiss him, and make him love her again.

But it wasn't that easy, and she knew that now. She glanced at the wooden clock on the garage wall. It read 6:15.

"When's, uh, Zee comin' home?" she asked him.

"Soon."

"I should go?" She looked at him. His face was hardened and his lips pinched into a straight line. He didn't say a word. She waited for a few moments, but nothing was said. "Fine. Then I'll go."

He watched her get up and exit the garage. "I don't want you to go," he finally said, stopping her in her tracks. It was then when her heart began to beat faster, a spark igniting its broken engines.

"You don't?"

"Nah," he waved the question off with the flick of his hand. "Zee won't be home until 6:30. We got some time."

She dropped her hands at her sides and looked back at him. "I knew you'd come around."

"You could always persuade me and manipulate me," Jake said with a little smirk on his face. "I would have jumped off of a cliff for you if you asked me to."

"Don't you already do that?" she asked him.

He cocked his head in confusion.

"Y'know, cliff dive." She clarified.

"Oh," he said, nodding his head. "Yeah. Guess I do jump off cliffs already."

"I wanna do that. Seems fun. Seems like it would be such a thrill." Bella told him, playing with the gauze on her hand. "You know how I like thrills."

"I'll take ya sometime," he told her. "When I have some free space in my busy schedule. How long you gonna be here for?"

"Hopefully forever," she sighed in response. "Jacksonville, Phoenix…they're nothing compared to what I have here in Forks."

"You gonna stay with Charlie?"

She nodded her head. "Charlie's had Billy over a couple of times. He was the one that told me where you were this afternoon."

"Wait…when did you get back to Forks?" Jake questioned with widening eyes.

"Weeks ago," she responded.

"Why didn't Billy tell me?"

She shrugged, "I'm not sure."

"Well…" he began slowly. "Welcome back, I guess."

"Thanks. But technically I came back weeks ago." Bella stated.

He chuckled, pulling up a stool near her. She ran a hand through her hair, looking around the place.

"You still work as a mechanic?" she asked him.

He nodded. "It's my full time job now," Jake replied in a jolly way. "Fixin' stuff…it's what I'm good at."

"You were always good at fixing stuff," Bella told him. _Like my heart._

He looked out the window and smiled. "You still drivin' that old piece of junk? Would have thought you'd have gotten rid of it a millennia ago."

"No, that old red Chevy will be mine forever…that is, until I can't run it anymore." She laughed lightly. He smiled back at her, thrilled with seeing her smile.

"You ever need some fixin', you know who to call, don't you?" He nudged her in the side and she smiled back at him.

"Mike's Mechanics?"

"Guess again."

"Forks Car and Truck Repair?"

"Try harder."

"Andy's Auto Service?"

"Now you're just playing with me," he told her, ruffling her hair playfully. She pushed his big hand away, realizing that he was burning hot.

"Do you still patrol?" she asked him quietly.

"Sure. Whenever Sam tells me to." Jake replied.

"Does Zee…?"

"She knows. She's okay about it, though."

"I thought so." She saw a shiny white car pull into the Garage's driveway. Jake followed her line of gaze, seeing the car.

"Shit, Zee's home early." Jacob cursed loudly and quickly put the stool back. "I'll tell her that I was workin' on your truck."

"Does she get suspicious of you?" Bella questioned, following him out the door.

"She's that kind of person." Jake replied. "She's scared to death that I'll imprint and leave her behind."

"Oh. I would be too."

He rushed outside and embraced the tall, leggy woman that stood before him. She giggled and clutched him close to her body, kissing his forehead. Bella felt a sharp pang in her chest as she watched them.

She had long black hair as most Quileute women had, and a beautiful copper skin tone. She was about 5'7 in height and her brown leather boots made her look even taller. She wore a fitting purple dress that showed off her perfect backside and perfect chest.

Bella frowned, looking down at her own chest. She liked to think that she was a C cup, but there was no escaping the reality that she was barely even a B cup. Zee however looked like she was in the high C's, maybe D's.

Zee let go of Jacob finally, turning to inspect the scrawny, pale girl standing near her. "Who's that?" she asked Jacob softly.

"Bella. My customer. I was workin' on her truck." Jacob motioned towards the rusty red Chevy in the corner of the Garage driveway.

"Oh," said Zee. "Nice to meet you. I'm Zee." She stuck her hand out to Bella. Bella took Zee's hand and shook it.

"Hi…it's nice to meet you too." Bella felt like a mouse standing up against two elephants. Zee clung to Jacob's side as Bella made her way over to her truck.

"Bye, Bells." He said, waving to her. He glanced over at Zee who was staring at Bella with a hardened glance. He didn't want her to leave yet.

"Bye, Jake." She waved back at him.

0o0o0o0o

"Hey, Bells. Did you visit Jake today?" Charlie asked as he came in and sat down at the table.

Bella nodded, stabbing a piece of the steak and setting it on the plate. Steak and cobbler as always. She carried the plate over to Charlie and set it down.

"Yeah. I saw him at the Garage." She grabbed her plate from the counter and sat down with her father.

"How is the kid? Haven't heard from him in a while." Charlie shoveled a forkful of food into his mouth.

"He has a girlfriend…and they live together." Bella told him. Charlie almost dropped his fork.

"Girlfriend? Bells…I'm sorry," he told her.

"Don't be sorry. I'm happy for him." Bella tried to give her father her best smile, but it was terribly weak. She stabbed a piece of meat and slipped it into her mouth.

"No, you're not." Charlie knew his kid well, and he knew her well enough to know that she wouldn't be happy about her best friend having a girlfriend. After all, Bella was the only girl in Jake's life.

"Don't be silly, Dad. He's moved on." She chewed faster, stabbing her fork with more force into the meat. "I can be happy for my best friend. Can't I?"

Charlie stared at her for a moment before shrugging his shoulders. "Sure, kiddo."

0o0o0o0o

**That's it for now, folks. Should I continue? If I get enough reviews, support, and love from the readers I'll continue the story. **

**If you liked this story, drop a little review please :)**

**Hugs and Smooches,**

**Courtney**


	2. Chapter 2

_Russet_

**Suggested Watching: -Jacob & Bella-She Will Be Loved by SarahSini on YouTube.**

**A/N: Hello! I was pretty pleased with the reviews I got. Thank you all so much! I've gotten many reviews saying that **_**Russet**_** has potential, and I think so too. Also, with the M rating, the M chapters will be in the later chapters. I promise that there will be romance forming soon! Here's the next chapter.**

**Chapter 2**

"Why are you everywhere I always am?" Jacob asked with a slight grin spreading across his face.

She looked taken aback by the question. "Excuse me? No. I think it goes like: why are _you _everywhere I always am?" she corrected him. He couldn't help but chuckle at that one. It only proved that she still had that fire in her.

"Touché," he replied. Jacob picked out a book and dusted it off. The _Thunderbird and Whale_ book store was filled with Quileute legends and fantastic tales that the council members used to enlighten him on.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him out of curiosity. She moved closer to him, watching as the muscles in his jaw tensed when he clenched his teeth together.

Her scent was _intoxicating_. She still wore that girly perfume that she had years ago. He remembered what it was called, too. _Vanilla mint. _It didn't seem to bother him years before, but there was something about it this time that threatened to drive him insane. He wiped it off as her mistake of putting too much _vanilla minty _perfume on that morning.

"What do you mean?" he asked in sheer disbelief, sounding almost angry. "_Thunderbird and Whale_ is on _our_ reservation. You act like I'm not allowed to be here or something."

"No, I never…"

"What are _you_ doing here?" he countered.

She blinked once, her mouth hanging slack. "I…I love this bookstore. I came here when I did some research."

"Research on what?" he asked.

"Cold ones," she whispered in response.

He stood up straight and turned a little redder, if that was even possible. She nervously fingered her shirt and looked down at the ground. "I'm sorry, Bella."

"It's fine, really." She dismissed him with the wave of her hand.

He showed her the book's cover meekly. "Zee wants to learn more about Quileute history," he explained to her. Jacob flipped through the pages of the dusty old book.

She looked adorably puzzled to him. She couldn't piece together the information he'd given her. "Wait…I thought you said that Zee was on the Quileute Res with you."

"I did," he agreed. "But I never said she was Quileute."

Bella stared at him, not following his train of though at all. She moved to the bookshelf next to him, running her fingers along the backs of the dusty old books. She picked out one that looked especially interesting and flipped it open to the first page.

She glanced over at him, only to see that he'd gone. She looked around for him in a baffled manner until she spotted him standing at the checkout. She crept up next to him slowly, as if she were planning to scare him. "Well…what is she then?"

He jumped a little, looking down at the pale brunette with her book in her hand. He hadn't realized that she had been standing there. "Zee's Makah," he informed her.

"Like Embry?" she questioned.

He nodded his head slowly. "Yup. Like Embry."

The cashier handed him the book. Jake's cell phone buzzed in his pocket. He took it out, his eyes nearly falling out of his eye sockets when he saw her text. Without a word in her regard, he darted out the door.

"Hey!" she called, starting after him. The cashier yelled out to her angrily, asking if she was going to buy to book or just walk out with it. Bella apologized weakly, coming back to the counter and handing him the book along with a wad of cash. She bounced on the balls of her feet in anticipation as the cashier took his good old time registering the book and sorting out the change.

She felt like asking him if he could go any slower, but she figured it wouldn't go well with the cashier. She was already on his bad list for nearly stealing something.

Once the cashier gave her the book she made a dash out the door in pursuit of Jacob Black.

He was on his motorcycle, strapping his helmet on when she stumbled down the stairs. He gasped, for a moment thinking that she'd fall flat on her face.

"Jacob Black!" she called, shaking her fist in anger. He sighed, glancing at the watch. He _had _to go. They could talk another time.

He kicked the motorcycle into gear and slowly drove across the parking lot, nearing the exit. She called his name again. He looked back at her to see her middle finger pointing up and straight at him. She, the sweet and subtle Bella, just flipped him off.

He laughed with amusement and turned his motorcycle around. She was standing there with her face as red as a beet and her knuckles white from clutching her old book too hard.

"What the hell's wrong with you?" she hissed, hitting him with her tiny fist. He didn't flinch. It didn't hurt, it never hurt, and hell, nothing she did would ever hurt him…again.

"Why are you running away from me?" she asked him. "Do you know how childish that is?"

He chuckled. She was always so tempered—like a ball of fire. "I'm not running from you. I just told Zee I'd be home soon with the book."

"Why, what're you gonna do that you gotta be home so quick? Is she sitting in bed waiting for you to read it to her or something?" She placed her tiny fists on her shapely waist, leaning over and glaring at him with her big brown eyes.

"Somethin' like that," he admitted shamelessly, smirking at her in a smug way.

It took a moment for her to process his snide comment in her head. When she got the 'joke', she looked flabbergasted and once again slapped across the face with his words. "Aw, you're sick."

He laughed again, louder this time. Jake thought it was funny to see the expression of mortification of her face. He shrugged his shoulders, "What can I say?"

"Nothing," she snapped. "You don't need to say a thing. You keep what you do with your precious girlfriend to yourself." Bella couldn't help but feel a sharp pang of jealousy of the woman that was getting all of his attention. Years before, Jake couldn't stop talking about her, let alone take his mind off of the subject of her.

"Hey," he said, putting his hands up in innocence. "You asked, honey." He raised a brow and pursed his lips. She smacked him again, physically scolding him for his cocky-talking.

"Okay, Mr. Smart-Ass." Bella growled at him.

"Bet you don't miss me anymore, eh?" Jake narrowed his eyes at her and she responded with sticking her tongue out at him.

"I'll always miss you whenever you're not with me," she replied, her expression turning more serious. She walked traced a pattern of a heart over his left peck before splaying her palm over his heart. "My Personal Sun's still in there somewhere…'cept I don't know where just yet."

"You still love me after all these years, Bells?"

"You should know that I'll always love you."

That hit him hard. The whole action touched him, and he didn't know where exactly, but it touched him somewhere. Somewhere that he hadn't been touched by Zee before. He looked at her through the light of the afternoon sun. She was truly beautiful, not the same depressed and pale girl whose heart he'd tried to win years before.

Her face was defined with her high cheekbones and perfectly sloped nose. She had vibrant eyes that seemed almost too big for her face, and long black eyelashes that framed them. She'd gotten tanner, her hair somewhat longer, and her breasts…developed more into those of a woman's.

He had to force his eyes away. She was the image of a true woman and not some anorexic twig of a teenager. He loathed himself for those feelings stirring up in his chest again. _This shouldn't be happening,_ he told himself. _I shouldn't be making the same mistake twice. _But it was the inevitable. There she was, standing there telling him that she always love him. It was what he yearned to hear all throughout his teenage years.

Bella gripped the book in her hand and looked back at her truck. "I needed something to do…something to occupy myself. That's why I came here. I wasn't stalking you."

She looked pained, almost. And what made her pained was bound to make him pained as well. "I didn't say you were stalking me, Bells." Jacob told her with a puzzled look on his face.

"I know…but you were thinking it."

He looked down when he received another text message from Zee.

_Where r u bby? Were waiting 4 u in bed…me and my kitty. _

He turned off the screen and turned to talk to Bella. "Y'know, Bells, I wasn't thinking that at all…" He trailed off when he realized that her red Chevy was already driving out of the parking lot and down the road. "Bye honey." He spoke it, but obviously she wouldn't be able to hear it.

He looked down and saw her book lying on the ground. She must have dropped it during their small argument. He picked it up and slipped it into his jacket. She'd want it later, and he'd have an excuse to go and see her later.

0o0o0o0o

She heard a knock at her door. She left the chicken to bake momentarily while she dried her hands on her white apron and went to answer the door. She opened it to a once again sweaty Jacob Black. He wore his sweaty gray wife beater shirt and knee-high jean shorts even though it was fifty degrees outside. She looked around her parking lot. He must have ran to her house, considering that his precious Harley Davidson was missing. He flipped his hair out of his eyes. Bella was really digging the whole 'longer-hair-don't-care' sort of look. "Don't you look…rough around the edges?"

"Way to put it, Bells." His tone of voice made him sound offended, but he really wasn't offended in the least. If she wanted to know the truth about why he looked like crap, she'd have to think real long and hard about their conversation today about Zee and the 'book reading' in _Thunderbird and Whale's_ parking lot. Zee was an amazing woman, and she'd shown him that.

"I'm a woman that speaks her mind," she said, puffing out her chest with dignity. "You can always count on me to tell you things straight up."

"I guess I can, huh?" He shoved his hands into his pockets and leaned against the doorway. In the background, Bella heard the oven beep. Her chicken was done.

"What do you want, Jake?" she asked him.

"Oh," he said, remembering what he initially came for. He held up the book and showed it to her. "You dropped it on the way out of the bookstore. I grabbed it for you…and figured I'd come and give it back."

Bella took the book into her hands. She recognized it as the one she'd chosen this morning. "And it only took you five hours to give it back?"

"I had some important things to attend to," Jake said smugly. He gave her a lopsided grin, winking.

"Let me guess. Reading Zee the book?" she questioned.

"Yeeeeeeaaaaahhh. We _read,_ alright."

_SLAM!_

"Bella!" He stood on the porch, still knocked for six from her actions. He rapped on the door a few times. She didn't answer him. He banged on the door a few more times, calling out her name.

"_I'm busy!"_ was what he heard from inside of the house. _"This chicken won't serve itself."_

"C'mon, let me in. I wasn't done talkin' to you, you know that?" He smiled to himself as he heard her light footsteps coming towards the front of the house. She swung the door open and leaned against the frame.

"That depends. You done being a cocky bastard, flaunting your girlfriend's name here and there?" she asked him.

Jake's mouth hung wide open as he stared at her. She had taken her apron off, revealing the extremely low cut sweater she wore. Four years ago, Bella would have covered every piece of skin that could have possibly been shown. She was more mature, and the past few days had shown him that she wasn't the same 'Bells' that he remembered her being.

"Yeah, I am." He told her with honesty.

She left the door open and walked back into the kitchen, inviting him inside of her house. Jake followed her, closing the door behind her. He found her in the kitchen where he watched her stick her knife into the chicken and pull a chunk out. She ate it, tasting the flavor.

"How's your hand?" he asked her, seeing the bandages that still remained there.

"Better," she told him. "It's healing quickly. And one more thing, Jake…?"

"Sure."

"Take your shoes off," she instructed. Jake's eyes widened. She hadn't looked at him once while he was in the house, so how could she have noticed that she was still wearing his sneakers? "It's because women have eyes in the backs of their heads."

"What? I didn't say anything," he said. Did she think that she heard him ask her something?

"You didn't need to. You think pretty damn loud, you know that right?"

"I do now. Thanks for enlightening me." He chuckled and she looked back and smiled at him. He disappeared into the other room to take his shoes off. He returned moments later, watching her set the chicken onto a white plate. She hesitated before taking a piece of chicken and popping it into her mouth.

Jake walked up behind her and tried to take a peace of the meat, but his hand was slapped away. He looked at her incredulously. She glanced at him through the corner of her eye and said, "Don't touch my chicken."

"I…I…" he stuttered. "I just _saw_ _you_ take a piece!"

"That's because I can. It's my chicken." Bella countered. She picked up another piece of chicken and ate it right before his eyes. She gave him a defiant look and smirked.

"C'mon Bells, I'm a hungry guy," he pleaded. "A shape shifter needs their protein."

"I'm sure Zee's awaiting you for dinner. You'll get some protein there." Bella slipped a plastic wrap cover over the foot and slid the food into the corner. "Besides, I need leftovers for Charlie."

"It's a whole chicken, Bella." Jake told her, as if she didn't already know that.

"Charlie's a _man_, Jake. He could eat a whole chicken if I let him, but I won't. He's got terrible indigestion." Bella told him.

He sat down at Bella's little wooden table and stared at her. She pursed her lips at him, her brown eyes narrowing. It took all the strength in the world to keep himself from drooling over her. But what the hell was he doing? He had Zee. He didn't care about Bella _in that way_ anymore. He was far past that, far beyond…right?

"Zee's actually a terrible cook." Jake blurted out. "She can't even make boxed macaroni without burning something."

Bella chuckled softly, staring at him with interest. "Really? You're not just saying that?"

"It's no joke, honey. She sucks at cooking." He laughed and gave her a sunny grin. Bella placed her hands on her hips as the corners of her lips tugged up in an effortless smile.

She turned back around and peeled the plastic wrap cover back a little bit and selected a strip of chicken for Jake. She resealed the plastic wrap and walked over to where he sat. He took the chicken as she held it out to him. He tasted it, melting into a food-endorsed heaven.

"Yup," he groaned in delight. "Definitely better than Zee's chicken."

_He needs a woman who can cook, _she thought.

_I need a woman who can cook, _was what he thought.

She looked back at him with her twinkling chocolate eyes and smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Jake. You were always so appreciative of my food."

"That's because you're the best cook around, Bells."

"You haven't had my cooking in three years," she mused aloud.

"Four years, he corrected.

"Yeah…four, whatever."

He winked at her and gave Bella _her smile_ that she was so used to seeing from him. That sunny, happy grin that always made her smile back at her best friend. But this time it was different. It made her stomach feel funny with butterflies and her heart skip a beat. Usually she'd put two and two together, but she was too afraid this time around.

His phone started buzzing in his pocket. He shot her an apologetic look before answering the call. She leaned against the counter, waiting.

"Hey you," he said.

"_Where are you, baby? Your dinner's getting cold over here."_

"I know, I'm sorry. I'm visiting an old friend's house."

"_And who's he?"_

"It's actually a she. Her name's Bella Swan."

"_You mean Chief Swan's daughter?"_

"Yup, that's her."

"_Was that the same girl at the garage a few days ago?"_

"Yeah, it was actually. I was fixing her car…she just came back from Jacksonville."

"_Jacksonville…okay. You…you didn't imprint, did you?"_

"No, Bella and I are only friends. I've known her since we were babies."

"_And that's all it is?"_

"Yeah, that's all it is."

"_Okay. Well come home soon, I feel lonely without my big wolf-man protecting me."_

"Alright, babe. Be home in a jiff. Love ya."

"_I love you mooooooore."_

Jake ended the call and stuffed his cell phone back into his pocket. He looked around the kitchen, but she wasn't there.

After some looking, he found her in the sitting room with her nose in the book that he'd given back to her. He sat next to her on the couch. "So…why are you running away from me now?"

"So you can get a taste of your own medicine," she replied.

"Really?" he asked her.

"No." She beamed and leaned up against him, resting her head against his heated shoulder. "I just wanted to give you some privacy, since you were on the phone and all."

Jake felt surprised at Bella's brave move to lay her head on his shoulder. He missed the casualty between them…where she would just cuddle up to him at random times just because she felt like doing so. If he weren't so attached to his childhood best friend, he'd have thought the whole action to be wrong. But somehow, Bella plus Jake equaled the perfect equation in his mind.

"Sorry…I had to take the call," he apologized.

"No, it's okay. You really love her don't you?"

He stared at the wall, his eyes locked on the pattern carved into the wall. He replayed the question into his mind a few times. Did he love Zee? Sure he did. Did he love Zee as much as he had loved Bella? No. Never as much as he had loved Bella. What he had with Bella was something that he couldn't just recreate.

But he felt the feelings of that same desire he'd felt all for her years ago came back to him like a flood of emotion. He began to want his Bells back. He began to want her friendship, her attention, and most of all, her heart.

Nothing made him stronger than her fragile heart and if he'd only know what it was like to be loved by her, he would have finally known what he was living for.

"Mmm." It was his reply. It wasn't a _yes_, and it wasn't a _no_ either.

She nestled her head into his shoulders and flipped the page of the book. He thought that if he could write a book about their relationship, and all the mountains that they'd had to climb together, it would be, could be the greatest love story the world had ever known. Every chapter would begin and end with her.

"Zee's expecting you home," Bella spoke up, bringing him back to reality.

"Y-Yeah. Guess I should go?"

"You don't want to make her angry." She looked up at him and smiled. He felt tempted to kiss her forehead like he had so many times when they were younger—when it felt right, when he didn't feel like she wasn't his to kiss.

"Yeah," he replied. She removed herself from his side and made her way to the door. He watched her shuffle to the door, his eyes roaming over her body. He felt moody. One moment he felt like it was wrong to look at her that way and feel like he did, and another moment he felt like it was destiny.

"See y'around, Casanova." Bella folded her arms over her chest as he departed down the stairs. He smirked and waved back at her.

"See ya, honey."

She froze. Honey? Sure, it was her nickname that he called her, but she hadn't heard it in three—four years. It warmed her heart. She giggled to herself like a giddy school girl, not looking him in the eye.

"Go on and get. Charlie's coming home soon." Bella shooed him away. He laughed again, turning around to gaze at her with his smoldering black eyes. She squirmed nervously.

What was he trying to do, see through her clothes?

He smirked as if he had just taken a peek into her thoughts. He shifted into his other form and dashed out into the forest. She watched her russet wolf disappear.

She slammed the door, slumping down against it. Her fuzzy pink socks slid against the hardwood floor easily, and she felt flat on her bottom. But the pain didn't matter to her. She felt dizzy, like a teenager that had just been kissed for the very first time. But what the hell was wrong with her? She lightly slapped her cheeks, trying to get herself to 'wake up' from whatever odd daze that she was in.

She never felt this way about Edward before.

And when she was still in love with him, she swore that her love with him was legendary.

But with Jake, it was different. For starters, she didn't have to worry about Jake sucking the life out of her body whenever she let her guard down. But the weirdest thing was that it was with her best friend.

The best friend she'd seen naked countless times when Sarah and Renee would bathe them together one afternoon when they were babies, the best friend she'd sit and make mud pies all day with, the best friend that had her back through all the crappy high school years she'd had.

She chewed her lip in thought. Could she be falling for the one she'd rejected years before?

0o0o0o0o

**Please review if you want me to continue :)**

**Hugs and Smooches,**

**Courtney Howlett**


	3. Chapter 3

_Russet_

**A/N: Hi guys, I'm back. I hope this chapter satisfies you all! Bold italics are all lyrics of the song "Love Man" by Otis Redding. Great song, I heard it in Dirty Dancing last night, and I loved it!**

**I am also on Tricky Raven (my name is still Courtney Howlett on there). I will be posting this story on Tricky Raven as well, so if you want to join me over on that site I'd be thrilled!**

**Chapter 3:**

Bella walked along the side of the road. Her hands were stuffed inside of her coat pockets and her breath was coming out in a fog dragon. It was only November and she was already freezing.

She neared the red house on the side of the road. She strained her neck to see inside of the Garage. The door was open, rock music was blaring, and a long russet body was protruding out from underneath a shiny blue car.

There were two others working on a car beside of the blue car. She took a deep breath and marched up the frostbitten grass path to the Garage. The sound of tools clanking against car parts echoed throughout the room.

She stood in the Garage, the rock music blasting her eardrums. She would have covered her ears if it weren't for that damned Jack Frost wind running down the road.

One of the men poked his head out from underneath the car to retrieve a wrench when he noticed her standing stoically near the entrance. "Bella?"

Bella's eyes snapped to the man who was now standing up to his full height of 6'5. The man's face was familiar to her. He had his short hair tied back in a little ponytail in the back of his head. His big black eyes roamed over her as if unbelieving that she was actually standing there in front of him…real, tangible.

"Embry," she whispered, finally recognizing Jake's best friend. She inspected him with her mouth breathing in bitterly cold air and her nose reddening like Christmas's favorite reindeer. His white tank was smeared with a black, smelly liquid and his hands were covered in the same substance. Not knowing what to say, she just settled with something general. "You've got some oil on you."

Embry chuckled, grabbing the rag sitting on the crappy plastic table beside him and wiping his fingers on it. "Well you haven't changed at all."

Bella blushed a crimson color. "I've gotten older," she pointed out. "And I'm less of a klutz than I used to be."

"I highly doubt that," Embry snorted, leaning up against the black pick-up truck. She scowled at him.

Another man slid out from under the pick-up truck, his face as red as a beet. "Dude, where's the fuckin' wrench? I've been down there waiting for like…" He trailed off when he saw Bella standing with Embry.

She gave a small wave, wiggling her fingers in greeting. "Hi, Paul."

He had his same short hair and those familiar beady black eyes that she was used to seeing so often. Apparently no one shaved this day and age either, because Paul's stubble was very evident on his chin. As he stretched his arm and back out, his muscles bulged under his dirty red wife-beater, making him look like 'Mr. Macho-Hothead-Dickface-Wet Dog-Paul.'

"Shit. Does Black know she's here?" Paul directed his attention to Embry, completely ignoring the mousy woman standing beside him. "Because I haven't seen her in what, five years?"

"Four, actually…" Bella whispered.

Paul shot her a glare. Embry rolled his eyes and handed him the wrench. "Get back to work, or Jake's gonna kick both our asses."

Bella held up her hand like a puppet. "Welcome back Bella," she murmured, mimicking Paul. Then she transitioned to her other hand, pretending to be herself. "Thanks, Paul. It really means a lot to me."

Paul snorted and slid back under the pick-up with his wrench. "You didn't change a bit, leech-lover," he bit out from under the truck. She rubbed the place over her heart with the palm of her hand—his words stung like a wasp in autumn. "Still weird and pale as hell."

"Back atcha, dog." Bella said in defense. She was never really good at comebacks. "You're still a dickface."

Embry sniggered in the corner while Paul growled from below the car. She felt his warm hand on her shoulder. He led her away from a seething Paul before she got too worked up about the insult. "I'm guessing you wanted to see Jake," he spoke. "He's never stopped thinking about you since you came."

"How'd you know I'd came back?" she asked him, her brows rising in question. She wasn't so sure that Charlie had blabbed to everyone about her return.

Embry tapped his forehead with his pointer finger. "The pack mind, remember? It has its uses."

They arrived over to where Jake was working on a bright blue car. The music was blaring so loudly over where he worked—the speakers sat a few inches away from him. "Jake," Embry called from above.

The clinking of metal on metal could be heard. Jake wasn't listening. Either that, or he couldn't hear a damned thing because of the music. Bella guessed the second option.

Embry resorted to kicking him in the shin, which only made him annoyed. He set down his wrench and pulled up his middle finger. Then he showed it to Embry, gifting him with 'FU' like a present on Christmas day.

Bella gasped. Then she called his name. "Jake!"

And it certainly got his attention.

He sat up so fast that he banged his head on the car's bottom and in turn, cursed loudly again. He slid out from underneath the car and jumped up to a standing position in three seconds flat. "Jeez, I'm sorry," he mumbled, rubbing his hand along the back of his neck. "I had no clue that you were standing there."

She laughed a little. "It's okay."

Jake gave Embry a look that said 'I will kick your ass if you don't let us have some privacy.'

"Oh!" Embry picked himself up and walked back to work on the black pick-up truck. Jake chewed his lip for a moment, looking at her up and down.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. He wasn't in the mood for her antics—he had a line up of cars to fix.

"I got bored," she murmured. "Charlie's idea of a fun weekend is sitting in watching baseball. I _hate _baseball."

Jake's lips tugged up in a little smile, but he tightly pinched his lips together before she could see him doing so. He nodded towards the house. "Zee's in the house making dinner," he simply stated.

A cold gust of wind blew in through the open Garage door, making Bella shiver. "Oh. I don't want to overstep any boundaries, or anything…" she mumbled softly, rubbing her reddened nose with her mitten clad hand.

Jake grabbed another tool out of his toolbox and sat back down on the seat near the car he was working on. "You're not overstepping anything," he told her. "I'm just saying that she's in the house."

"You act like me seeing you is some undercover mission." Bella laughed humorlessly. Jake frowned at her and slid back under the car with his tool in hand.

"In a way it is," he said. "I don't want my girlfriend thinking something that's not true."

"What would she think?" Bella questioned. "I'm just standing here in the freezing cold trying to talk to you."

"Exactly," he snapped, his eyes widening as if to say, 'duh, that's what I was talking about, dumb-ass.'

She pushed her eyebrows together in confusion. "Exactly? What's _exactly, _Jacob Ephraim?"

He froze at the sound of his middle name. He glared at her from under the car. "Don't call me that," he hissed.

"Then don't sass me," she huffed.

Jake sighed, looking at her. She was like a child, really. Her face was distorted into an unhappy expression, her brows furrowed, her eyes narrowed and her lips pinched together tightly. He couldn't help but laugh.

She sat down on a chair and watched him work. "So you want me to leave?"

"I don't care whether you leave or you stay," he said. Jake was really struggling to stay focused on the car. He didn't want to tell her to leave, but he couldn't work on the car without having his ear blabbed off, either.

The radio station suddenly changed. Bella looked over to Embry, who was tampering with the radio. Out flowed some upbeat 60's music, and Otis Redding's _Love Man_ blasted from Jake's $500 speakers.

_**I'm a love man, call me the love man**_

_**Ooh baby I'm a love man**_

_**That's what they call me**_

_**I'm a love man**_

Out of the side door, Zee burst out with a plate of cookies. "Jakey!" she called. Bella ducked down and scampered over to Embry's side.

Jake dropped his tool and slid out from underneath the car with a big grin on his face. Then he opened his arms to the leggy, busty woman. She jumped on him, her long black hair flowing around her shoulders.

"Dance with me," she whispered, and bit her lip. He snaked his hand around her waist and she grinded against him to the oldies song.

That hurt like a bitch.

She turned to Embry, who analyzed her with his shy brown eyes. "You wanna dance, Bella?" he asked her over the music. She felt stupid just standing there, watch Jake and his perfect girlfriend _rub their parts_ to 'Love Man.'

"Yeah, sure!" Bella tried to be as cheery as possible, putting on her best smile. Embry grinned at her in return, grabbing her hand and pulling her out to dance. Bella shucked off her mittens and hat, and stood in front of Embry.

"Try not to step on my feet, Bells." Embry snickered. She frowned and smacked him softly.

"I told you I'm not a klutz anymore!"

"And I told you that I_ highly_ doubt that."

0o0o0o0o

"That girl's here again?" Zee asked, her brow furrowing.

Jake nodded. "Yeah, I told you she's an old friend. All the guys know her, including Embry."

"Why'd she come here though? Did her truck break down again?" the woman leaned her head against Jake's broad shoulder, rolling her hips onto his to the music.

"No. She came for…Embry," he lied. Zee looked at him and nodded.

"Makes sense," she said. "She looks like she's having fun dancing with him."

Automatically, Jake's head whipped over to see Bella trying to move her hips like Embry. He couldn't hold back his laugh—after all these years she still couldn't dance. Especially not in that giant winter coat and those huge, weathered snow boots.

Embry twirled her around and she came crashing into his chest. And he held her there tightly, pressing his cheek to her head and ruffling her hair. Jake felt a sting of pain in his heart as he watched them dance with each other.

_But why, you fool? _The Jacob-devil on his shoulder said. _She left you. She played with your heart until you couldn't take it anymore._

_Don't listen to him,_ said the Jacob-angel on his other shoulder. _I think you should follow your heart._

Jacob growled and floated back to reality. _Fuck both of them,_ he thought.

He grabbed Zee tighter and planted a hot, open-mouthed kiss on her neck. She giggled and ran her hands through his tousled black hair. "Save that for later, Jakey…" she murmured sensually, winking her eye.

He got excited.

Like a puppy seeing its owner bring over a new toy.

_**Long legs and I'm outta sight**_

_**There ain't no doubt I'm gonna take you out**_

_'**Cause I'm a love man**_

_**That's what they call me**_

_**I'm the love man**_

"I can't wait for later," he said in a low voice, his mind filling with naughty pictures. Hell, he just needed something to distract himself from the girl dancing with his best friend (in his freaking Garage too) in the corner.

"Be a good boy and maybe I'll reward you." Zee whispered, her hands trailing down his stomach.

Jake groaned. "Babe, I'll be as good as it gets for you."

_**Make love to you in the morning**_

_**Make love to you at night now**_

_**Make love to you when you think about it**_

_**I'm gonna bet you everything's alright**_

0o0o0o0o

Bella licked her chapped lips and pushed the tendrils of messy hair out of her eyes. The song was over, and Embry had finally stopped swinging her around the room like a rag-doll. She'd enjoyed dancing with him, though. He had a great sense of humor, and knew all the right buttons to push…just like Jake.

She thought that she could grow to like him as well. Embry had drifted over to where Zee had left the chocolate chip cookies on a plastic table in the Garage while Bella slipped her hat back on and her mittens too.

She glanced over at Jake and Zee and felt her heart drop to her stomach—it wasn't a nice feeling. Zee was draped over him like a curtain, her arms around his neck and his hands roaming the curvy plains of her hips and supple backside.

Bella looked away, not wanting to get too caught up in their love-fest. Nor did she want to be caught staring at them like a silly old fool.

Paul had never come out to dance to the song. She figured it was because there were an odd number of people and he'd have felt really awkward dancing alone. Either that or he just wanted to work.

Bella confirmed the second option to be a more sensible, and reasonable option. Considering the fact that he was 'Mr. Macho-Hothead-Dickface-Wet Dog-Paul,' no one would want to dance with him even if there were an even number of people.

Well, at least not her.

There was no doubt that Paul was attractive. She just had to remember that he was 'Mr. Macho-Hothead-Dickface-Wet Dog-Paul,' and he tried to attack her when he'd first phased…seven years ago…

Jeez, has it been that long?

She stole a glance back at Jake again. He was standing alone, leaning against his car. Zee had disappeared back into the house to finish up dinner. She cocked her head, trying to get a better look at him.

His face was distorted into one of a deep thinker's, and he seemed to be lost in thought. Bella wondered what he was thinking about.

He seemed to shake out of whatever odd daze he'd been in. He wrapped his hands over the chain hanging from his neck and looked at the silver military dog tag sitting in his palm.

Bella craned her head. Her eyes weren't that good, but she could see the words printed on the dog tag. It said: RUSSET.

She rocked on her feet with her hands tucked neatly behind her back—she looked away just as he turned around. "Bella," he said.

Her head turned towards him, her lips pursed as she 'casually' whistled a tune. "Hiya, Jake," she said cheerily, giving him a quirky little smile.

"Can I ask you something?" he whispered, coming in closer to her. Bella's heart ignited and it began to pound against her chest. She wondered what he was going to say, oh how she wondered.

"Sure, go ahead and ask away," she told him. He grasped her hand through her light blue mitten and looked her in the eye.

"Billy's at your house tonight. He just drove over a half hour ago to finish watching the baseball game and he should be coming home soon. You're leaving, right?" he asked her.

That was like a slap in the face.

He actually _wanted _her to leave.

"Yeah, sure." Bella agreed sullenly, the corners of her mouth drooping at the corners. Was he being serious with her?

"Great! I need you to keep him there a little while longer." Jake instructed, big brown eyes wild with delight.

She paused and gave him a puzzled look. Why did she need to keep Billy at Charlie's a little while longer? So she asked him. "Er…why?"

Jake chewed his lip. He was jumpy, he was acting like he was in some sort of a rush. "Zee…Zee and I want some time alone. If you know what I mean." He winked at her.

Fucking winked.

She stared at him, her face losing color rapidly. She was dumb-stricken, knocked for six, and completely and utterly taken aback.

All he did was stand there and give her a shit-eating grin.

"Thanks, Bells. I knew I could count on you." He slapped her shoulder lightly and ran inside the house. She stood and stared out into the darkness, completely oblivious to anything else that was happening behind her.

The rock music, the clanking of tools, Embry staring…

"Bella, are you alright?" Embry asked. He was a down-to-earth person and cared about peoples' feelings. Especially a woman's. Even though he was Jake's best friend, he still thought that what Jake just did to her was worse than a punch in the nose. And he'd gotten punched in the nose many times before.

He stared at the unmoving girl standing in the entrance of the Garage. She began to move, slowly walking out to her truck with a word to his regard. She climbed into her red Chevy and drove down the road.

Inside the house, Jake sat at the table with Zee. He ate the stew that she 'attempted' to make. It tasted like plain old hot water with vegetables and a few chunks of beef. He'd told Zee that it was a great meal, though he'd probably starve to death yet another night.

He felt guilty after what he did to Bella, what he said to her. He shouldn't have been so harsh. And to see the horrified look on her face was funny to him at the time, but not anymore.

God, he was such a dick.

"Want more stew, Jakey?" Zee offered. "You cleaned your bowl well."

He began to shake his head, but stopped instantly when he noticed the saddened expression on her face. "I—I mean, of course, babe. Give your man another helping."

He pretended to look happy while she giggled and plopped another helping of stew into his bowl. "Eat up, big man. We have a long night ahead of us."

Jake groaned.

Zee giggled again, mistaking the groan for one of pleasure.

**0o0o0o0o**

**Please review! I think I'm quite happy with this chapter! Tell me your thoughts in the review box :)**

**Hugs and Smooches,**

**Courtney**


	4. Chapter 4

_Russet_

**A/N: Hi guys! I'm back with another chapter. I was really happy with all of the feedback I got from the reviewers. You all are so kind, and I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far. I know it's a short chapter, but I felt like it needed to be stopped here.**

**Song: Only You by the Platters (I know it's an oldie but I really love this song for this chapter.)**

**Chapter 4:**

**~.~.~.~ Only you can make this change in me. For it's true, you are my destiny.~.~.~.~**

Bella opened her eyes to the sound of a rock or a pebble hitting against her window. She cracked an eye open, annoyed that she'd been woken from her dream. And it was a relatively good dream, something she wasn't used to at all.

Clank.

Another sound. She stretched and yawned, glancing at the time. The clock read 2:15 am.

Clank.

Clank!

The third rock hit her window so hard that she nearly jumped a few inches off her bed. She kicked off the covers and scrambled over the window to see who was throwing the damned rocks at her window. She forced the heavy glass window open and looked down to see Jake standing casually on her lawn in his cutoffs.

He loaded another rock into his hand, not looking up at her. She squinted her eyes at him. Then he wound his arm back and threw the rock at the house.

It missed her by a few inches. "Hey!" she hissed.

He looked up instantly, an apologetic look on his face. He hadn't realized that she'd heard him and had come out to see who was throwing rocks at her window. "Sorry," he said.

"It's freaking two in the morning, Jacob Black. What do you want?" Bella asked.

He didn't answer right away, biting his lip and impatiently swinging his arms at his sides. "Back up," he told her, breaking into a sprint near the tree that stood alongside of her house. "I'm coming in."

She looked down at herself, half naked with only an oversized t-shirt to cover her top. But before she could even consider putting some pajama pants on, he was already inside of her rom. She stumbled back to her bed with a gasp and collapsed on top of the covers.

"Jesus," she panted. "Seriously, Jake?"

He couldn't help but look down at her, his Adams apple bobbing as he swallowed down his lust. He could see lacy pink panties sticking out from underneath her oversized t-shirt, and the outline of her breasts through the shirt. It was clear that was she wasn't one for wearing bras to bed. He pointed at her with his shaky finger. "You're wearing my shirt."

She looked down at the Yankees baseball shirt and tugged it down to her knees. "I was tired. I came home from work and I just slipped something on in the dark...I didn't know it was your shirt, Jake."

"Yes, you did." He simply stated, the twinkle in his mischievous eyes making her uncomfortable.

She narrowed her eyes at him-she wasn't one for talking in the middle of the night. He was acting like this was some casual afternoon chat when it clearly wasn't. And she didn't particularly in the mood to talk to him after the whole 'Zee and him wanting some alone time' spiel. She still wasn't quite over that one.

"What are your doing over here at this time? Aren't you supposed to be warming your precious girlfriend's bed? I mean, you had me tell Billy to stay an extra hour so you could have some extra time with your little girly-friend." Bella spat, with venom in her voice.

He flinched, biting his lip. He gave her another apologetic look, one that said, 'I'm sorry for being such an asshole.'

"I just got off of patrol," he explained to her. Jake sat down next to her, his heavy body making the bed creak and concave slightly. "I just thought I'd pay a visit like old times."

She fell back against the pillows and her long brown hair splayed out in a halo of curls. "You're like a damned traffic light that's showing red, yellow and green all at the same time," she told him quietly.

He looked down at her, his nostrils flaring with each sniff. She was aroused, and he could smell it. It was ten times more strong than Zee's, more pungent, musky, more...delicious.

He shook the thought out of his mind. "I don't understand your analogy, Bells." And with that, he proceeded to jab his fingers into her ribs. She let out a loud laugh and smacked his hands away.

"Don't do that!" she hissed. "We'll wake Charlie."

"Still don't understand the whole traffic light thing," he said dumbly.

"You're a little slow there, Jake."

"I should be after I flunked high school." Jake chuckled, like flunking high school was some sort of joke. Bella stared at him from her spot on the bed with her chocolate eyes as wide as saucers.

"What do you mean you 'flunked high school'?" she asked.

"Plain and simple. I. Flunked. High. School. After you left, I sorta went through a rough patch and I didn't finish my senior year. I also didn't have enough money to pay for college. So I just started up my own auto shop-the Garage. That's what I called it...because I remembered that it was what you always called our garage. Like it was some significant place. Now it is," he explained, glancing over at her with his dark eyes.

"I...I don't know what to say. I caused this, caused you to flunk high school…" she murmured to herself. Jake shook his head.

"Nah. If you hadn't left and I hadn't flunked high school, then I wouldn't own the Garage and I would have never met Zee. She called the Garage when her car broke down on the side of the road. I happened to be working that day," he whispered.

Bella stayed silent, staring at the small Christmas lights that she had strung around the top corners of her room, and how it casted little shadows onto her face. She was the reason Jacob went through that rough patch. She was the reason his heart had shattered into a million pieces. She was the reason he didn't go to high school. She was the reason he was with Zee…

She was the reason why he finally became happy again…

He leaned over her, his fingertips catching the dreamcatcher that hung securely over her pillow. She felt her heart beat faster as his long, muscular torso pressed against her chest. The feeling was exotic and new to her, to have heat against her breasts without the protection of a bra.

He could feel it as well. Her pert nipples were poking through her shirt. He quickly pulled back slightly, his face turning bright red. He rubbed his nose against her cheek.

"Er...you still have this old thing?"

She nodded, her voice lost within her pulsating heart. He gave her a grin, his pearly white teeth sparkling like stars in the blackened night sky. He ruffled her hair-like the old days.

When he moved away from her, the cold flooded her body. She shivered. She wanted him to come back and make her warm and whole again. She was longing to grip him by the shoulders and pull him on top of her and kiss him senseless.

Back then, if she'd kissed him first he would have been thrilled. He would have kissed her until his lips fell off.

But now it was different. He had Zee back home, and he should have feelings about kissing her, and not Bella.

Remember she left you, Jacob's conscience told him. She left you for the leech. You love Zee. Bella's not going to break your heart anymore.

To kiss him, to love him, to make him hers...it was what she should have done, would have done, could have done. But he wasn't hers to play with anymore.

The thing was, she didn't want to play with him anymore. She wanted to settle down, cover him with her love, and lie down with him every night in their bed. It wasn't that easy, and was never going to be that easy ever again. She should have taken him while she could have.

She didn't deserve him.

He had deserved her.

Hell, he'd deserved all of her love and affection, every single piece of her heart and soul and body, but she'd selfishly given him no part of it.

She gave everything to Edward (it hurt to say his name), the leech, and it was like throwing everything away for a hundred year old corpse. Like Jake had said, she didn't need to change for him.

She'd have warmth.

Love.

A beating heart.

Someone that was alive.

Someone that was young and youthful.

Someone like her, with a soul.

If she'd loved Jacob, she would have known what she was living for.

He glanced down at her and bit his lip. "What, cat got your tongue?" he asked, his face looming a foot away from hers.

"No, no…" she murmured softly. She looked at him. He was undeniably attractive with his muscular body, raven hair and deep, emotion-filled eyes. "It's just that you're sorta beautiful, Jake."

To him it was like a replay of six years ago. His mind drifted to the time when she fell off of the motorcycle she'd helped him fix and hit her head on that rock. He'd ripped off his shirt to dab away the blood that was trickling down her forehead. She'd glanced up at him and told him that he was 'sorta beautiful.'

He sat up straight, gathering air into his chest and holding it there as he stared blankly at the wall.

It hurt. It hurt so damn much.

She stared at him momentarily before her eyes drifted to the window. Rain streaked down the glass, leaving glistening trails of liquid crystal.

He got up and opened the window, swinging one leg over the frame. "I gotta go," he murmured. The rain was louder now that the window was open-it drenched the side of his body. She sat up and watched him, folding her arms over her chest. "Zee hates it when I'm not by her side during thunderstorms. She's never really liked them."

"So you better go quick," Bella simply told him. She showed no emotion in her voice, but inside she was a mess. She felt like her heart was being ripped and shredded into little pieces.

He stared at her open mouthed before swinging his other leg over the windowsill. He sat dangling for a moment. "By the way," he whispered. "You're sorta beautiful too."

And then he was gone, disappearing from her sight like a burnt out light in a pitch black room.

Bella scrambled to her feet and looked out the window, watching as his feet hit the ground. Jacob phased into his wolf and darted into the blackened forest. Rain poured down over her head, but she didn't care.

She fell back into her room, her hair soaking wet from the rain. She ripped off the stupid Yankees t-shirt and whirled it against the wall. She opened the drawer and slipped on one of her own t-shirts.

It was then when she saw the rest of Jacob's t-shirts. She took them all out in a pile of ten shirts, and whirled them across the room.

She watched as they scattered on her floor. She clenched and unclenched her fists, her breathing labored and heavy.

Collapsing to the floor in anguish, she began to cry.

They weren't hers, she didn't want them.

He wasn't hers, she didn't want him. And that's a damn lie, she thought.

She reached out and grabbed one of his Star Trek t-shirts and brought it to her nose. It smelled like Jacob; the outdoors, the tree sap, the pine, the fresh rain…

Bella dropped the shirt and crawled back into her bed. She forced the tears back down and pulled the covers up to her neck.

It was cold without him.

She hated the cold.

Any cold, wet thing she didn't really like.

The rain poured sideways through her open window, soaking her carpet in rainwater, but she didn't care.

This was what she meant with the whole traffic light thing. He was sending her mixed signals. He loved and wanted her around one day, but then the next she wasn't welcome to him at all.

**0o0o0o0o0o**

**So that's it for now, I hope you like it!**

**Please make my day and review this chapter :)**

**More to come soon!**

**Hugs and Smooches,**

**Courtney Howlett**


	5. Chapter 5

_Russet_

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and feedback on the last chapter. I love you all!**

**FYI: Emily is married to Sam. Rachel is Paul. Kim is married to Jared. None of them have children yet. Seth's imprint is Lark, but they're not married yet. Jake, Embry, Brady, Collin, Benji and Beck do not have imprints yet. Some of them will in the near future. Also, the pack mind communicates with italics as Jacob, and brackets [] as the pack members like Embry and Quil.  
**

**Song: Turning Page by Sleeping at Last**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 5**

She gathered all of the courage she found inside of herself into a bottle and drank it down that morning. In her Chevy she drove over to First Beach for a party. Embry had invited her to be his 'arm candy' and chaperone him to the social gathering for the pack members and their imprints. Since Embry didn't have an imprint, he'd asked Bella to come.

Embry greeted her as she climbed out of her truck, wrapping her in a big bear hug. "Get off of me, you big lug," she laughed. "I can't breathe!"

He led her down the sandy hill to the beach where the imprints were chattering away next to their wolf men. And of course Zee was stuck to Jake's side, fussing over him, buttoning his shirt and planting little kisses along his jaw.

Bella frowned—couldn't they get a room?

A cold gust of wind blew past, causing Bella to clench her teeth together and shiver. Embry drew her closer to his side, the inhuman heat radiating off of his body to hers. She instantly smiled.

He wrapped his muscular, tattooed bicep around her shoulders and turned her in a different direction. He too, had noticed Zee and Jacob together. He could sense that Jacob was still in her heart and the guilt was still evident. He was being honest when he said that he didn't like Zee. She was something different, and he was always sensing that she was always up to something.

And Embry sensed well.

"You're my arm candy today, Swan," he spoke, the deepness of his voice sending chills throughout Bella's body. He leaned closer to her, his lips almost grazing the shell of her ear. "So you're gonna have to stick with me and at least look like you're having a good time."

She smiled up at him, letting loose a little giggle. Embry smiled to himself. He just had a feeling that Jacob would be back with Bella in no time.

"Atta girl," he praised.

They walked towards Embry's group of pack brothers and sisters. The moment Paul, Jared, Sam, Quil and the imprints noticed them, the conversation ceased and Emily, Kim, and little Claire stared with suspicious eyes.

Jared wrapped his arm around Kim's waist and popped his cinnamon gum. Bella wanted to laugh at the height difference. Jared was a huge, muscular man that was almost 7 feet tall. Kim, on the other hand, was slight, curvaceous and barely even 5 feet tall.

"Embry," Sam said in greeting. Then he turned his attention to her, nodding his approval and greeting. "It's nice to see you again, Bella."

Bella smiled and shook Sam's massive hand. She felt like his hand had completely swallowed her own.

Jared gestured to Bella. "Imprint?" he asked. Kim looked up at him, her eyes flashing with warning.

"Nah," Embry said, shaking his head slowly. "She's just my acquaintance," he said, accenting the 'acquaintance.' He shrugged his shoulders. "Since I feel all sorts of awkward when I'm invited to these parties and I don't even have an imprint yet…"

Quil snorted, grabbing little Claire and hoisting her into his arms. "Forever alone," he teased with mock exasperation. Claire giggled.

"Seth doesn't have an imprint," Bella interjected.

Embry shook his head and pointed to Seth standing with a pretty young girl with two black braids on either side of her head. Seth smacked a kiss on the girl's lips and she smiled sweetly, nuzzling her nose against his.

"That's Annamaria Reynolds, but we all call her Lark." Embry whispered.

"Why Lark?" she asked.

"If you've ever heard her sing, you'd know that she has the most beautiful voice anyone's ever heard. And larks are known for their sing-song voice. That's why we call Annamaria Lark." Embry explained to her.

Bella nodded, glancing back towards Jake, who was oddly staring at her. When she locked eyes with him, he looked away quickly. He bit his lip and shook his head. He popped a cigarette into his mouth, smoke curling up into the air. Zee was over chatting with 'Lark' and Rachel about their favorite places to shop.

_Typical prissy girl talk, _she thought to herself.

Jake got up and began to walk towards her. She looked back to Embry, only to find that he wasn't standing behind her anymore. Embry was halfway across the beach, tackling Quil to the sand playfully. It was too late to try and make it seem like she wasn't looking at him. He was already in front of her.

"Hi, Jake." Bella's voice quivered slightly. He was so tall, proud, and…beautiful.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her, pulling the cigarette out of his mouth. He blew smoke down at her.

"Embry invited me," Bella replied, sidestepping the smoke so that she wouldn't choke on the harmful fumes. "I'm supposed to be his arm candy, I guess."

Jacob nodded slowly, as if to let it all sink in. "Do you want a drink?" he asked her, offering the coke in his hand.

"Isn't that Zee's?" she asked, gesturing to the soda.

He handed it to her and stuffed the cigarette back into his mouth. "No, it's yours now." He glanced back at his girlfriend who was too busy chatting with Lark and his sister to even notice his presence.

Bella popped open the top of the coke and gulped it down quickly. Zee would complain endless about the fizz burning the back of her throat when she chugged a soda too quickly. But not Bella.

She wiped her mouth the back of her hand and handed him the empty soda can. He took it unwillingly and crushed it in his abnormally large and strong hand. Her eyes widened.

"You been working out?" she asked.

"Nah," he murmured around his cigarette. "Just workin' on cars."

A wisp of his black hair fell into his eyes and Bella reached up to tuck it back. He froze—it seemed like everything else did too.

Those fingertips touched his hair and pushed it back agonizingly slowly, the sensation of feeling her fingers running through his hair was something foreign to him. He watched her stand on her tippy toes so she could reach a little bit higher. The end of his cigarette flared with fire as he let another puff of smoke fall from his mouth.

A groan broke their silence. He didn't even realize it was his own groan. Bella's eyes widened again as she trailed her hand down his hot, stubbly cheek. She ran her thumb over his bottom lip and ran it through the divot on his cleft chin.

A gust of wind blew through the beach, blowing the scent of her arousal towards his nostrils. He snapped away from her instantly, fearing that he'd go wild if he smelled that intoxicating cherry sugarcane aroma again.

Bella felt another large body press up against hers. She looked up to see Embry. "Everything okay?" he asked. She relaxed against him slightly, her eyes still firmly locked on Jacob.

"Yeah, everything's fine." She nodded her head vigorously and smiled at Embry. Jacob glared at his best friend and stalked away, the crushed soda can still being held tightly in his grip. Embry wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on the top of her head.

Embry could always sense when she was upset. He was a senser.

She turned into him and buried her head in his muscled arm. She mumbled something into his skin, but he couldn't hear a word she said. "What was that?"

She lifted her head up. "I said he won't ever love me like he did all those years ago. I ruined _everything._"

"Y'know," he murmured. "I think Jake still loves you. But he's a stubborn guy and I know he's not going to admit anything just yet. Honestly I say that you're giving up too quick—make him love you again."

"It's not that easy, Embry." Bella sniffled, leaning her head back onto his shoulder.

"Whoa there little Swan," he chuckled. "I'm not telling you it's going to be easy, I'm telling you it's going to be worth it."

And the best thing about what he said was that it made sense to her. Because Embry was a sensible person, and she was glad that something _finally_ made sense to her…

0o0o0o0o

Jacob swore that the scent was going to drive him insane. He was fighting the urge to phase—his wolf was going completely bonkers beneath his skin and he didn't know why. He was blocking Sam and Quil from his thoughts when they were desperately trying to get into see what the hell was wrong with him.

Zee was walking back from her chat with Lark and Rachel. She skipped merrily down the hill and caught his shoulder with her hand, resting her chin on his heated flesh. "Hi baby," she murmured. Jake ignored her and sipped his soda, his eyes gliding to Bella's curvaceous form as she leaned against Embry.

_Fuck you, _Jacob connected with him through the pack mind.

[She's yours, man. Just grow some balls and come over here and talk to her.]

_Why'd you bring her?_

[I brought her for you.] Embry replied.

Zee shook him slightly. He looked up at her after his sipped his soda, slightly irritated. "Yeah?" he asked.

"I'm…I'm back," she said.

"I see that," Jake replied. What, was she expecting some great reunion and him to powder her face with his kisses?

She hissed at him and smacked him on the arm. Jake shrugged out of her grasp and stalked over to the snack counter. Zee just stared with bewilderment.

Bella turned around just as Jake walked by her to throw his coke can into the trashcan. He hated her for making him feel this way…but he loved her so goddamn much. He shot her a glance, then grumbled and made his way over to the snack stand where Rachel snuggled up to Paul's side.

Calm folk music floated out of the speakers—folk was one of Emily's favorite genres. Iron and Wine's Flightless Bird happened to be playing at that time. She watched as he fidgeted around with the chips and messily poured some onto a plate. She turned back to the girls, who were chatting to her with excitement. "I haven't had a baking partner in ages," Emily chirped. "Lark doesn't come around much to bake, Rachel doesn't do it if she doesn't have to, Claire's too young and Kim will burn anything she touches…"

Jared's cute little imprint nodded her head vigorously. "Ask Jared! I even burned a pot of noodles before."

"She can find a way to burn water," Lark giggled. Kim agreed with her, even if it was insulting to herself.

"I love baking," said Bella.

"Wonderful!" Emily clapped her hands together in excitement. "This is magnificent, just perfect. I declare you, Miss Isabella Swan, to be Emily Uley's new baking partner."

Bella nodded her head appreciatively and agreed to the time that Emily set up to meet and bake. Apparently she and Emily would be making banana muffins for the pack the next couple times they had a patrol break.

Emily played with Bella's hair. "The first baking session," she began. "…is tonight."

0o0o0o0o

She felt his eyes burning into her as she danced with Embry to the slow song. He was dancing with Zee, so why would he care? Every time Bella would happen to look over their direction, Jacob would quickly look away.

"Why do you keep looking at her?" Zee asked, pouting.

"Because she's not supposed to be here," he grumbled. "Embry should have never invited her." He grabbed Zee's hips and kissed her neck passionately.

_I brought her for you…for you…for you…you…_

Embry's words rotated around and around in his mind.

[Bella's going to be at Emily's tonight.] Embry said.

_Why?_

[Emily's found a new baking partner.]

_This is great. Just…perfect. _

[It will give you two some time to bond again.]

_I don't want to bond, Em. I'm in love with Zee._

[Dude, you suck at lying.]

_Shut up._

0o0o0o0o

"They're coming!" Emily exclaimed. She let the curtain fall over the little window and grabbed the plate of muffins. Bella grabbed the second plate and set them on the table just as Sam barged into the house, followed by a band of rowdy werewolves. Sam smacked a kiss to Emily's lips before he sat down at the table to grab a bite to eat.

It was just she and Emily that night, as far as girls went.

Embry and Quil greeted her with friendly hugs before sitting down at the table. Paul grunted his greeting as he shoved muffins into his mouth. She counted the guys at the table. There were 12—Sam, Jared, Paul, Embry, Quil, Seth, Brady, Collin and two other guys that she'd never met before. The newbies looked like brothers.

"Those are the Ross brothers," Emily said. She saw Bella's confusion. "The really tall, muscular one is Ben. But since he's one of the younger wolves, Paul started calling him Benji to be funny. I guess it stuck…" Then she pointed to the youngest wolf, the one that was shorter and still a little baby-faced. "And that's Beckett, but we all call him Beck. He's the youngest."

She nodded her head and looked around some more. Then she noticed that someone in particular was missing. "Where's Jake?"

Before Emily could answer her, a muffled voice gave the answer. "Lover boy should be coming after he tucks his slut into bed."

She whirled around to face Paul at the table. The boys all sniggered quietly as Emily scolded Paul for calling Zee a 'slut.'

It was safe to say that Bella agreed with him, though.

She joined Emily at the head of the table and watched as they all dug into the muffins and devoured them. All of their hard work for the past few hours meant nothing to the wolves.

"The pack doesn't like Zee?" she asked Emily quietly.

"Not really. After she cheated on Jake, and all." Emily replied.

Bella gasped. "She…she _cheated _on him?"

"Yeah, last year with some guy on the Res. Jacob was so upset, he wouldn't talk to her for weeks. But when she finally did get him to talk to her, she lured him into her bed. At least that's what Sam said. He told me the images were racing around in his mind the whole day." She wiped her hands on her apron and handed Bella glass of iced water. "He even brought her to our monthly get together…which, quite honestly was a surprise to me."

_Now I have a reason to hate Zee_, Bella though evilly.

She sat near Benji and listened to his wild adventures of catching leeches with his brother and the rest of the pack. "And then I ripped off her head and we threw a party here at Emily's!" the young boy exclaimed. "I was so proud. I even got to burn the leech all by myself."

Bella cringed. "What an honor," she whispered with a smile. While Benji dove back into the muffins, she turned her attention back to the hot tea that was steaming before her.

The front door opened and shut loudly when he came in. Bella didn't look up at him once as he sat down at the opposite end of the table. He had a perfect view of her, despite their distance. He was greeted by a chorus of 'hey mans' and a few slaps on the back.

He leaned his chair back and chewed on a cig, the smoke curling from his lips as he eyed her like a predator did its prey. She made eye contact with his brooding black orbs only to look away quickly.

"You okay, loca?" Emily asked sincerely.

Bella mouthed his name, blushing furiously. She could practically feel his eyes roaming over her body.

"Don't pay any attention to him," Emily said. "Why don't we go back into the kitchen and make some sandwiches?"

A few whoops rose up from the table when they heard Emily say 'sandwiches.' She laughed and tugged Bella back to the other room.

While they were layering mayonnaise onto the bread, Emily scooted close to her. Bella made some room for her onto the counter by sliding her workstation a little farther away. "I have to tell you something," Emily said. "But it's a secret, and I'm not ready to tell anyone just yet."

She felt special that she was going to be let in on a secret. "Sure. What is it?"

"I'm pregnant." Emily whispered.

"Oh my gosh!" Bella yelled. Emily shushed her wildly.

"Sam doesn't even know yet, so you'd better pipe down and zip up!" Emily ran her fingers over Bella's lips. "And keep 'em closed."

She nodded furiously and went back to buttering. "That's great, Em."

"I know!" she giggled softly. "I'm so excited…I'm just not ready to tell Sam yet. I just needed a girlfriend to tell it to first. I only told it to a few girls."

"Who?" Bella asked.

"Lark, Rachel, Kim and you." Emily replied.

"That's like the whole imprint group," Bella laughed.

"Shhh!" Emily scolded again. "Sam's coming over here."

"Girl talk, huh?" Sam's deep voice could be heard from the other end of the kitchen. He walked up behind Emily and wrapped his large arms around her tiny waist. Emily laid her head back on his shoulder and smiled.

"Yes," Emily said, wriggling out of her husband's grasp. She handed him a sandwich. "Now go back to the guys because we can't continue our girl talk with you here."

Sam groaned lowly. "I love it when you're feisty," he murmured, turning on his heel to go back to the table.

She slapped her husband on the butt on the way out the door. The boys whooped. "She wants it," Paul's ridiculous laughter echoed throughout the room.

"Those boys," said Emily, rolling her eyes. "Let's go hand these puppies out."

Bella followed her back into the dining room. She took Sam's side, which only left Bella to Jacob's side. She handed out sandwiches to Paul and Jared, then placed one on Jacob's plate. He grabbed her hand before she could yank it away, his searing hot flesh coming in contact with hers.

"I need to talk to you." Jacob whispered.

"Okay," she replied, coming off as a little nervous and awkward. She stood up and he followed her into the kitchen.

Emily looked over at Bella and she nodded back at her, telling the other woman that everything was okay. Jacob leaned against the kitchen sink and sighed.

"Zee's going on a business trip tomorrow. It's for about…uh, four or five days. I think it's four." Jake said.

"So?" Bella folded her arms. "What's your point?"

"I don't cook." Jacob gulped.

She gaped slightly. "Okay. What do you want me to do, cook for you?"

He nodded his head. "Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking."

"I don't know…" she murmured.

"Come on, please?" Jacob stuck out his bottom lip and made puppy-eyes at her. That very face was one that always made her give into anything he asked of her.

[You can so cook, man.] Quil's voice rang through his mind. [Those chicken cheese steaks were to die for.]

_Shut up. I know I can cook...I just want her to come over._

[What about Zee?]

_There's something I need to talk to you about later. Just don't judge or question me. I love Zee…I just need Bella to come over._

[Okay. Later we'll talk.]

Bella unfolded her arms and slouched a little. That damned puppy face…"Okay, maybe for a few nights. But then you're on your own."

Jake smiled. "Thanks, Bells. I really do appreciate it." He turned on his heel and began to walk out the door.

"Jake wait—" Bella caught his bicep. "I won't be overstepping boundaries?"

"Look, I'm sorry I've been such a dick to you. It was just the whole impact of you coming back when I thought you married the bloodsucker and turned into one…and when you came back that day at the Garage and you were there, human and real and touchable without that disease of a leech, something in me snapped. I had you back, but I didn't know what to do with you." Jake replied. He took her hands in his, folding his fingers over hers. "But boundaries? Bells…there are no boundaries."

She nodded her head, feeling the warmth of his hands on hers. The feel of skin on skin sent zaps of pleasurable electricity through body.

He stroked her cheek. "And I understand that traffic light analogy now," he said. "I wanna be green, Bella. Just green."

She yanked her hands out of his grasp. "I'm sorry too. For all of the shit that I put you through…" Her eyes became cloudy with tears. There was something pulling her towards him like an invisible force bonding their hearts together. "For not choosing you…"

He felt something stir deep in his chest when she said that she was sorry for not choosing him. It made him want to go to her and kiss her senseless. Jacob took his thumb and wiped away the tear that escaped down her cheek. "Don't…don't do that. Don't cry for me honey. It's not worth it."

Bella's chest heaved. Emily came into the room, and she yanked herself away from Jacob. Jake felt like his heart was being ripped out of his chest when she moved away from him.

"Everything okay?" Emily asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"Everything's fine…fine!" Bella said, wiping her tears away and putting on a fake smile. "Everything's good. Okay."

Jacob watched her with pain as she hooked onto Emily and left him in the kitchen alone. "Ask me why I love you?" he pondered to himself. "I'll say, 'I don't know. I just do. So damned much, too.'"

**0o0o0o0o**

**It really makes my day when you guys leave a review and tell me your thoughts! :)**

**Hugs and Smooches,**

**Courtney**


	6. Chapter 6

_Russet_

**A/N: Happy late Thanksgiving everybody! I hope everyone had their fair share of turkey and mashed potatoes. Well…here's what you all have been waiting **

**Song: Tattooed Heart by Ariana Grande**

**Chapter 6**

**.~.~.~.~So just call me if you want me, cause you got me and I'll show you how much I wanna be on your tattooed heart.~.~.~.~**

The pot of noodles boiled on the stove. Bella grabbed her large, plastic cooking spoon and stirred. He stood over her shoulder, watching. "Anything I can do?" he asked, making her jump a little. She stirred a little faster.

"Maybe," she said with a grin and set the wooden spoon down on the table. She placed her hand on her hip. "You could clean the dishes in the sink for me and I could put 'em away after dinner."

He nodded sincerely and turned on the water. I came flowing out of the faucet and onto the dirty dishes. "Washing dishes…it's not as bad as it seems. I used to wash them all of the time for Billy. It was my nightly chore, if you know what I mean." Jacob remarked.

"Charlie didn't make me do many chores." Bella said matter-of-factly, sprinkling some spices into the pasta sauce.

"Ah. The typical spoiled brat," he snorted.

Bella blushed and shook her head. "No, it's not that. Renee would usually do them for us. She loved the dishes…my mom was weird like that."

He scrubbed the residue from the dishes and then dried them with the dishtowel. She turned a dial on the stove and the heat of the water and pasta sauce died down a little.

"Not too hard, you'll break the dish."

Jacob slowed his scrubbing and resorted to squirting more soap onto the plate. She refocused her attention her noodles. She drained them into a colander in the sink next to Jacob, and then tossed the noodles back into the pot.

She was stirring the sauce when she heard a hiss and metal clanking around loudly in the stainless steel sink. "Damn," he cursed. "Cut myself." Blood trickled down from his finger and spattered onto the floor. Bella gasped when she saw the damage done and quickly handed him a napkin to stop the bleeding.

"Where do you keep your band-aids?" she frantically asked. The sight of blood always made her feel a little woozy and lightheaded.

He shook his head dismissively. "Forget band-aids. I heal faster than any human being. Probably about ten times as fast. Here," he summoned her closer. She cautiously took a step forward. "Look at the cut."

It was a deep gash, one that made Bella's stomach curdle. She gagged slightly. He replaced the napkin and counted to ten.

"Now look," he said. Bella hesitantly took a peek and saw that the deep gash was gone; it was replaced by a small cut. The skin was pulling together before her eyes, attaching and sticking like glue. She gaped in awe. Soon the small cut was only a small scar that was barely even visible. "See? All gone."

She leaned up against the counter and eyed him warily. "That was _gross._" The way she said it, her voice laced with pure disgust, made him burst out laughing.

Bella smiled and ran a hand through her hair. She had always loved his shrill laughter, the way he threw his head back so far the she couldn't see the hilarity in his eyes; the way his Adam's apple bobbed in his throat, the way he'd clap his hands loudly and slap his knees was just plain entertaining. She always ended up laughing along with him.

"But seriously, Jake, what were you doing?" she chuckled.

"I was trying to clean it off," he replied. "Zee made brownies the other day and she used that knife to cut 'em. They were hard as rock, and I couldn't get the damn spot off. So I scrubbed and it…it slipped."

At the mention of Zee, Bella's happy mood instantly changed from happy to fairly upset with a pinch of irritation. "Oh," she murmured. "Be more careful next time."

He saluted her and smiled, that sunny grin breaking her unhappy mood and making her smile as well. She set down two plates of hamburger meat pasta sauce over a fresh pile of noodles. Jake dove in like it was some sort of contest.

She set two glasses of water on the table and sat in front of him, twirling the noodles onto her fork before putting them into her mouth. And there he was, slurping noodles and spattering pasta sauce and eating like there was no tomorrow.

"Jeez, you're a slob!" Bella half-laughed, half-exclaimed. She watched the pasta sauce drip from the corner of his mouth. He grunted in response.

"M'hungry."

"I can see that."

"Zee never makes food this great," he murmured, accenting the compliment with one of those panty-dropping grins. "I'm glad you're here."

She took another bite of spaghetti, her face flushed red. "Thanks."

0o0o0o0o

Bella placed her plate into the dishwasher and closed it up tight. "It's getting late," she remarked, glancing over at the time. It read 8:15.

"It's not that late," Jake said, using a toothpick to get the excess food out of his teeth. "You could stay a little longer."

"I told Charlie I'd make you dinner and be home around seven o' clock. I'm already an hour late and I'm surprised he hasn't called me to check on me." Bella said, grabbing her purse off of the counter.

She touched the screen on her smart phone. There were no missed calls from Charlie, to her dismay. It was one less excuse she could use to escape Jacob and Zee's house.

Jake threw out the toothpick in the garbage can. "That's 'cause he knows you're with me. Honey, we've been friends for years."

The sound of thunder rumbling across the sky caught her attention. _Another one of Forks' frequent thunderstorms_, she thought. _Perfect timing, Mother Nature._ The house lit up as lightning flashed.

"Now you're definitely not going back," he said matter-of-factly.

She clutched her purse tighter, glancing out of the window. "If I go now I might miss the storm," she whispered. "Goodnight, Jacob."

Bella made a run for the door, but he was too fast. He caught her around the waist and pressed her up against the wall. She struggled against him, but his size and strength was no match for her small frame.

"Uh-uh," he murmured into her ear. "There's no way."

"Charlie will worry."

"Then text him, call him. I can't risk you getting hurt in that storm." Jacob stubbornly replied.

"Let me go, Jake." Bella grouched, pushing at his chest.

"Not until you agree to stay here for the night." Jacob was stubborn. He always had been like that. "So agree, or we'll be staying here for a while."

She narrowed her eyes at him. He gave her one of those 'Bella' smiles and winked at her. "Okay, fine," she said with exasperation. "I'll stay over."

He released her and smiled with satisfaction. "Good."

0o0o0o0o

"Where are you going to sleep? On the couch?" she asked him, holding the bundle of blankets and pillows in her arms. It was still raining, and it was raining hard, at that.

"No," he murmured, busy with tying his hair back into a little ponytail at the bottom of his head. "In the bed."

"Okay," Bella nodded. "Where will I sleep?" She set the blankets down on the couch momentarily.

"In the bed," was his response.

"T-Together?" she asked, her eyes widening.

"Yeah!" Jake said enthusiastically. He nodded his head over towards his bedroom door. Bella could see a king sized bed in there. "Just like old times."

The king sized bed looked awfully inviting but he wasn't remembering something, or someone to be more exact. "Are you forgetting you have a girlfriend?" she said. "I'm sure Zee wouldn't like it if I was sleeping in the same bed with you like _old times._"

"Zee's not here," he said. "She's on a business trip with her business partner Noah down in California having a hell of a good time, I'd think."

"Before you didn't want me near you, Jake. You were so worried about what your girlfriend thought, and now you're acting like you don't care at all. What changed?" Bella placed her hands on her tiny hips and cocked her head to the sound.

Jake chewed his lip, almost nervously. "It's called trying, Bella."

"Trying for what…?"

"To be your best friend again," he said quietly.

Bella's heart nearly turned to mush. "But don't you think I'm overstepping boundar—"

"_Fuck boundaries, _Bella. I told you before…fuck them!" His face fell when he noticed the surprised and petrified expression on her face. "I mean, just forget about them."

"Okay, okay fine." She unfolded a blanket and laid it on the couch. "I'll take the couch for tonight."

Jacob looked defeated and a tad crushed that he hadn't won her over. "No…you take the bed. I'll have the couch." He helped her up and smoothed out the blanket. "I've slept on the couch countless times before. And you're the guest."

Bella retreated into his bedroom. "I don't have pajamas…or nightwear." She told him softly.

"Fifth drawer," he called from the other room. "Pick any t-shirt you like."

She mumbled a meek "thanks" before shutting the bedroom door. He smiled to himself, finding immense pleasure at just the thought of her wearing one of his t-shirts.

0o0o0o0o

Jake heard the door squeak at 1:00 in the morning. It was still raining, and he didn't get a lick of sleep yet. He saw her shadowed form when she stood near the moonlit window. She was wearing his oversized t-shirt and nothing else.

He looked up at her. "I can't sleep," she said, rubbing her eyes softly. Her hair was in disarray—it had fallen out of her messy bun overnight. She tugged at the hair tie until it freed her chestnut curls.

Jacob shook his head. "Yeah…neither can I." She shifted her weight from her left foot to her right, looking around the room.

He tossed off the covers and followed her into the bedroom. He collapsed on the bed next to her. It took her a moment to realize that he was wearing nothing but a pair of boxers, and when she did realize it made her blush fifty shades of red.

Bella pulled the covers up to her chin and shivered. "It's freezing, Jake. I don't know how you guys survive sleeping in this room without freezing to death."

"C'mere," he mumbled, opening his arms to her. She stared, unable to process what he was asking her to do. He grinned at her. "What? Afraid of the big bad wolf?"

Bella blinked, snapping out of her 'Jacob' trance. "No," she mumbled and flicked the covers off of her. She snuggled close to him and instantly felt the heat swarm her body like flies and honey. She groaned.

He chuckled and spooned next to her. "This is how we survive," he told her. He rubbed her frosted arms, hissing at the cold rush against his warm skin. "Damn, you're cold!"

"I told you," she snickered. "Get some damn heating installed."

"Why would you need heating if you had me?" he whispered.

"I'd rather use a heater than a human incinerator." Bella whispered back.

He pulled away and let the cold wash the heat out of Bella's system. She thrashed in discomfort. "Come back," she whimpered, curling up in a little ball.

Jacob grinned. He pressed himself up against her back and she pressed herself into him. Her eyes flew open when she realized that something protruding from his lower half was poking between her legs and rubbing against her sweet spot.

She tried wriggling away but his grip was locked tight. But she decided not to grill him on why he was turned on and why his dick was pressed against her butt cheeks, so she just put up with it. She was freakin' tired, anyways.

0o0o0o0o

She found herself lying on top of him in the morning, her legs straddling his midsection and her head buried in the crook of his neck. His hands were locked tight together around her backside and his hair had fallen out of his ponytail overnight. How the hell did she get there? She sat up, and tried to unlock his fingers.

Jacob's eyes instantly snapped open and he noticed her position. He instantly smirked and relaxed against the pillows."She couldn't resist, eh?"

"Let go," she whispered, slightly annoyed.

"Say please. And say that you'll make me breakfast and stay a little while longer." Jake set his price high.

"Jake, no! I have to go, Charlie said to come home when I got up." Bella wriggled against him, causing friction against his 'lower region'. She felt his member press up against her. She gasped and his eyes widened.

"What if you, er, got up at, uh, 10:00?" he asked. She stropped wriggling and that pleasurable feeling in his southern area died down.

"Charlie knows I'm an early riser," she whined. She struggled again.

He groaned loudly this time, the pleasure of having her hot core rubbing against his needy member becoming almost too much. He released her and brought his hands up to his head to push the hair out of his face.

She tumbled off of him and stood by the bedside. Her eyes trailed downwards, seeing the nine-incher sticking up in his boxers. _Holy shit._

Bella averted her eyes once he removed his hands and situated himself in his boxers…right in front of her. She turned away and found her clothes from last night. She gathered them up in her arms and scurried away into the bathroom to change.

As she shut the door, he fought the urge to take his 'mini Jake' out and get rid of the pleasurable ache that she caused.

"Aw, fuck."

0o0o0o0o

She scampered up the steps. She was trying to make scrambled eggs, except she didn't know where the eggs were. Jake hadn't shown her.

She knocked on the bedroom door. "Jake, I have to ask you something." She jiggled the lock—it was open. Bella barged in, unaware of what was on the other side waiting for her.

Apparently he'd taken a shower while she was downstairs cooking breakfast. He was stark naked and dripping wet. He turned around slowly, catching her gawking at his naked body.

"Shit," he murmured and grabbed the towel, covering his crown jewels. "Sorry honey. I didn't realize you were there."

She shut her mouth instantly, remembering the question she'd been wanting to ask him. "The eggs. Where are the eggs?"

"Oh, they're in the fridge on the very bottom shelf. Zee puts things in odd places." Jake replied, turning fully around. Bella noticed that he was turned on—again.

She gulped. "Okay, thanks."

As she turned around to go back downstairs, he called her name. She turned and gave him her full attention. "Yeah?"

"Did you get a tattoo?" he asked her. Bella blushed another shade of red. That was on her lower back. How did he see that?

"Yeah, while I was in Jacksonville."

"It's a sun?"

"Yeah."

The story behind the tattoo was that she was missing him terribly after she split with Edward and happened to be out with a friend when she came across a tattoo shop. Feeling adventurous, she'd ventured into the shop and got her very first tattoo. It was a sun, with a meaning.

The sun represented her Personal Sun back in Forks—Jacob. The Jacob she'd left behind for a bloodsucking leech, a one hundred year old corpse.

He nodded and smiled.

It was because he knew.

He knew why she got the tattoo, and he knew what it represented.

As if he could read her mind.

"Look," he said. "I got one too." He turned in the other direction and showed her the armband of bells tattooed on his left bicep.

She blushed. "You got bells," she remarked, as if unbelieving. "For me?"

"I got bells for you. And you got a sun," he replied. "A personal sun. For me."

She sheepishly nodded. "I missed you."

"I missed you too, honey." He walked to her and ran his fingertips across her cheek, feeling the soft skin beneath his rough fingertips.

She turned away quickly, pointing to the kitchen. "I—I uh, I'm gonna go make the eggs now."

He nodded his head, looking a little bit defeated. "Yeah, you go ahead and do that. I'll be down in a flash."

So she turned and ventured down the stairs to go cook him those eggs.

0o0o0o0o

"My God, what did you do to him Bella?" Emily asked. "I swear to God, Jake won't stop looking at you."

Bella turned around to see Jacob facing her and eating his roast beef sandwich. His eyes were locked on her, and when she made eye contact with him, he winked. That look—it sent jolts throughout her body.

"I kind of slept over last night." Bella told Emily. The other woman's eyes widened and she gasped.

"You slept over? Oh my god. The scandal," she smiled and winked. Bella blushed.

"We didn't do anything. He just asked me to cook dinner for him and I agreed because I didn't want him to go without meals while Zee was away. And everyone knows he can't cook." Bella explained to Emily.

Emily looked at her funny with her eyebrows raised and her lips pursed. "Mr. Black can cook," she whispered. "I remember the time he helped me bake these cookies for Sam's birthday party and we kind of split up and worked against each other like it was a contest. I stole one of his cookies, and Bella…it was freakin' amazing."

Bella blinked, trying to register what Emily had just said. "That sneaky bastard," she hissed. Glancing back over at him, she noticed that his dark eyes were still on her. She squirmed in discomfort. "He lied to me."

"Did you sleep with him?" Emily asked, her eyes wide open and interested. Bella chewed her lip.

"Not really," she replied.

"What do you mean not really?" Emily was nearly flipping out. "Did he impale you on his meat stick or not?"

Bella burst out laughing. "No! We slept in the same bed like we used to, we just didn't do anything…quite like that."

The timer went off, signaling that the cake was cooled enough. Emily opened the refrigerator and pulled out the big, fresh vanilla cake. Tonight was Benji Ross's birthday, and the pack was throwing him a surprise party. Jake had tugged her along. She hadn't minded, since she knew Emily was going to be there.

"Hmm," the other woman mumbled, inspecting the cake. "That's unfortunate. Sam said he'd been thinking about you all day. Not one flash of Zee like it normally is."

Bella handed Emily the green icing she'd made earlier and the older woman used the icing knife to spread the icing onto the surface with incredible ease. "Really?" she said, disbelieving.

"Oh, yeah. Sam thinks he's feeling that 'l' word again." Emily slopped more green icing onto the cake. "Jake's always had a soft spot for you, loca. Don't act like this is all a surprise to you!"

"It's no surprise," Bella said. "Do you know what I found out this morning?"

Emily leaned closer to her. "What did you find out?"

"He got a tattoo for me," she whispered softly.

The older woman looked back to Jake at the table, shirtless as always. Paul made a snide comment about his imprint Rachel, and Jake smacked him for it. "Yeah, I know. It's that bells tattoo."

"When did he get it?" Bella asked.

"Shortly after you and Edward moved down to Jacksonville." Emily set the empty tub of icing aside and grabbed the blue tube of thinner icing to write Benji's name with. "He sort of went through a rough-patch and didn't come out of it for a few months."

Bella felt a sharp stabbing pain in her chest. Jake was behind her, laughing, smiling, rough-housing with the other pack members…he was happy again.

"Chica, don't you worry about it! He's fine now." Emily assured her, rubbing her shoulder. She realized where she slipped up.

1, don't mention the leech.

And 2, don't mention Jake's rough-patch.

In her fine cursive, Emily managed to create the words _Happy Birthday Benji! _on the cake. Bella threw out the empty tube of blue icing just as Sam came in, announcing that the two Ross brothers were here.

All the wolves and their imprints immediately shushed. Emily sprinkled fifteen candles onto the top of the cake. Bella helped light the candles, hurrying as the young boy walked through the door.

The song was started up when Benji walked through the door, Paul and Quil screaming the words off key. Ben's face was priceless.

His mouth was wide open, eyes as big as saucers, and the word 'food' in his mind as Emily and Bella brought over the cake and set it on the table.

"Wow! Thanks, Em!" Benji exclaimed, throwing his arms around the older woman's neck. She laughed and rubbed his back. Sam frowned and peeled the boy off of his wife like he was a squished fly on a flyswatter.

Bella came around with the knife and bent down to cut the cake when two strong arms pulled her over. She looked up to see Embry. "You didn't say hi to me yet today," he said.

She took a swab of icing and dabbed it on his nose. "Hello," she murmured.

Everyone laughed—everyone except Jacob, that is. He growled inwardly and glared daggers at Embry.

[Just being friendly, man.] Embry told him in the pack mind. He barricaded everyone else's thoughts out.

_Didn't look like it when you were feeling her up._

[Why do you care? You have a girlfriend.]

_You know why I care._

[Then make your move. Help her cut the cake.] Embry nodded towards Bella, struggling with the big knife in her hands.

Jacob got up from his seat abruptly and walked up behind her. Then he sandwiched her body against hers, and moved her hands up and down in a quick, precise cutting motion.

_How's that for you, asswipe?_

Jacob nuzzled his nose against her hair. She laughed and pushed him off of her. "I got it," she said. "I'm a certified cake chopper now."

[Perfect, dickwad. Perfect.]

Jacob snorted.

**0o0o0o0o**

**Thanks for reading! I hope this was an extra quick update, I've been anxiously writing this for the past couple days. What do you think is up with Jake? Why is he acting so nice?**

**It would be really nice if y'all left me a review to tell me how you liked it/didn't like it. It makes my day when I see that people took the sweet time to review my story!**

**Many Hugs and Smooches,**

**Courtney**


	7. Chapter 7

_Russet_

**A/n: Hey all. I am back with another chapter! Many hugs and smooches to all of those who reviewed :) it really does make me happy! And due to the satisfying amount of reviews, you get a long update!  
**

**TRAILER FOR RUSSET NOW UP ON YOUTUBE. SEE IT HERE:  watch?v=aZTcTHl4nng**

**The character for Zee that I have pictured for Zee is played by _Nina Dobrev._**

**The song used in the chapter is Touch My Body by Mariah Carey. There is Quileute Dictionary at the end of the chapter so we all know what those funky long words mean! Also, all quotes used at the end of this chapter are actual quotes from our dearest Jacob Black ;)**

**Chapter 7**

_(3 days since Chapter 6)_

Bella had tried her hardest to try and ignore the buzzing phone on her bed while she was reading her book. She was a lover of the classics, and _Jane Eyre_ just happened to be her favorite book.

After the buzzing died down for a short while, it would start up all over again. She reached her breaking point and set the book down on her desktop. She picked the vibrating phone up and looked at the screen.

_20 new messages from _Jake.

Rolling her eyes, she scrolled through the messages.

Hey

_Heyy_

_What's up?_

_Hello_

_Bells, answer me._

_I need someone to talk to, B._

_Can I tell you something?_

_What are you doing?_

_Bells, c'mon. _

_You're killing me._

She scrolled past some unimportant messages until she reached the ones that particularly interested her.

Honey, are you angry or something?

Did I do something to upset you? Because if I did, I'm really sorry.

_I miss you over here. _

_Hey—if you won't talk to me over text at least talk to me at Em's._

Bella created a new message and began to type her message.

**Calm down, I'm not mad at you. I was just busy. I will be at Emily's later tonight—we can talk then.**

She hit the send button and threw the phone back on the bed. She opened her book and stuck her nose back into it.

And ten seconds later, her phone buzzed again. She groaned and viewed the message.

_OK, good! Why weren't you answering me?_

**Jake…just let me read my book in peace.**

_Oh, OK. I'm sorry :)_

**Thanks.**

**:) ttyl.**

0o0o0o0o

"Hey, the fastest transportation there is on the back of a wolf," Paul said proudly, winking at Bella. "Hence my title of being the fastest pack member."

Embry frowned and shook his head. "Oh, please. More like 'slowest' pack member."

"Eat a dick, Call." Lahote hissed.

"You already ate 'em all," Embry snickered. The whole table broke out into laughter and a few shouts of, "Ooh, burn!"

"Settle down," Emily scolded. She handed both boys a sandwich. "And be nice, Embry."

Bella looked up at her triumphant friend who was grinning like he'd just won an Olympic gold medal. Embry rubbed Bella's back and laughed. "Good one," she remarked. "No one's ever sassed Paul like that."

"Oh, I beg to differ!" Jared cut in abruptly, bouncing Kim on his knee like she was a baby. Well, she looked like one. "I remember when you slapped Paul for making fun of Jake and he phased because he couldn't control himself."

Everyone laughed again. Paul rubbed his cheek. "I can still feel that," he said, nodding his head. "I'll admit, Swan, you got me good there."

Embry shook Bella's shoulders. "See? Atta girl."

Bella hadn't seen Jacob in three days since she slept over at his house after making him some dinner. He'd texted her about all the crappy take-out he'd ordered and how he wished she was over there making him something delicious.

Jacob was a half-hour late to Emily's and he was the one that was practically begging her to go to Emily's that night. Just as she was thinking about it, Mr. Black waltzed through the door.

He wore black aviators and a black leather jacket on his shoulders. He took it off and hung it on Emily's coat tree, revealing a body hugging muscle tee those two tattoos. A tribal tattoo on his right, and his bells on the left.

"Fashionably late," Lark commented as Jake sat down next to Seth. Jake winked at Lark, causing Seth to practically growl at him.

"Uncle Jay!" called little Claire, wrenching herself out of her imprint's grasp. Quil looked a little broken, and Bella sympathized him for that.

As his dark eyes scanned the room for her, she found herself shrinking into Embry. He was completely oblivious to it, though. Once they spotted her, he smiled and sat down in his seat. He flicked his aviators up on top of his head, and she was captivated by the liquid pools of fire in his eyes that burned with desire.

She wasn't looking her best today—what did everyone expect? It was Thursday evening, and Bella had just got off of work. Gray sweatpants, furry boots and a simple black V-neck did her enough justice that night.

Beck left to go talk to Sam in the kitchen, leaving the space next to her open. Jacob seized his chance and darted over to Bella's side. She went frigid against her will and stared.

He grinned and winked at her. "Black is a good color on you," he murmured. She turned bright red.

"Thanks," she murmured.

"You should wear it more often."

She raised her eyebrows. "What are you getting at?" she asked.

"Nothing. Just stating that it's a good color," he explained slowly.

She took a sip of her water and relieved her dry throat.

"So," he began. "You comin' home with me tonight?"

She nearly choked on her water, slamming the glass down on the table. Embry looked over in confusion to see Bella hacking and wheezing because she was choking on water.

"Whoa honey," Jacob said, rubbing and patting her back. "You okay there?"

She stood from the table and rushed into the kitchen, her face still beat red. Embry turned to Jake, who was grinning like a mad old fool. "Hey," he nudged his friend in the arm. "What the hell did you say to her?"

Jake shook his head. "Don't worry about it. She's alright."

0o0o0o0o

Kim and Emily had made their way into the kitchen to bake some more muffins and appetizers for the pack members. "Always," Emily was saying. "You always need food for the guys when they've finished their patrol runs. Sam could eat a whole horse."

Kim nodded and pulled a batch of muffins out of the oven. "Jared could too. I say he needs to cut down on his food, but that would be like killing him. No, worse than that. I really am surprised that he's not fat."

Bella walked into the kitchen, her face red as a beet. Emily smiled and greeted her with a small hug. "You didn't come say hi to me yet today, loca!" she said cheerily. Over the older woman's shoulder, Kim gave a meek wave. She really was a pretty young thing, but still plain like Bella.

Emily pulled back and smiled at Bella. "Ayásochid?"

"Hachli ho," Bella replied with a smile.

Both women gasped. "Where'd you learn Quileute?" Kim asked.

"Embry taught me some words the other day," Bella said.

"I've seen you two together a lot," Emily remarked. "Do you have feelings for him?"

Bella shook her head violently. "Oh, no! Embry and I are just friends. He's like my brother."

Both women nodded. "Hey, how about you come to one of our girlie nights?" asked Kim. "It's my house, and it's a time for us to talk about stuff while the guys are outside drinking beer and roasting hot dogs by the fire."

Bella nodded and smiled. She needed a good social life after she'd been distant and disabled from everyone for the past few years because of her previous relationship with…the leech.

"Okay," she gave Kim her best smile. "Talk about what kind of stuff?"

"Hmm," Emily pondered. "Mostly sex."

Bella's eyes widened like saucers. "S-Sex?"

"Yeah, chica!" Emily pinched Bella's side, making the smaller girl yelp. "Don't tell you me that you don't get some."

"I do," she lied.

"Who?" Kim squealed loudly and clapped her hands. "Is it Jake?"

Emily nudged Kim in the side roughly. "No," Bella said, blushing again. "He's got a girlfriend."

Kim rolled her eyes and stalked away. "I guess I forgot." She almost seemed upset that Jacob had Zee and not her. It was a peculiar thing to ponder over.

Bella nervously played with her shirt and ducked her head down. Her long hair spilled over her shoulders like a waterfall of brown curls. Emily rubbed her shoulders soothingly. "Don't worry about that," she whispered. "But I do expect you to attend our girl nights. We don't have to talk about sex, you know."

"I know," Bella said. "It's okay. I'll still come."

Emily brushed stray hair out of Bella's eyes. "Good." Then she merrily made her way back to the fresh banana muffins sitting on the counter. "I need my sidekick."

0o0o0o0o

"Wanna do something interesting?" he asked.

She looked at him in interest. "Sure. What do you have in mind?"

"All you have to do is hold the soda in your mouth while I try to make you laugh. Keep it in as long as you can, and if it comes out before one minute, you lose."

Jacob had resorted to dragging her onto the back of his Harley Davidson and back to his house. Bella wasn't pleased with the idea, but she'd caved into his pleas and puppy eyes.

He went to the refrigerator and pulled out some soda cans. "I have coke and sprite. Which one do you want?"

Bella pointed at the can of sprite. "I want the green one." He grinned and slid it across the countertop. She caught it in her hands and popped the tab open, taking a swig.

He sat down in front of her on the other side of the table and told her to take a drink. "I'll be right back," he murmured, rushing off into the other room. Jacob returned a moment later with a radio.

He plugged the radio into the wall and started the track. As soon as the music started, Bella knew she wouldn't last long. Jacob ripped off his black muscle tee and began to lip sync the words to the music.

_I know that you've been waiting for me and I'm waiting too_

_In my imagination I'd be all up on you_

_I know you've got that fever for me, hundred and two_

_And I know I feel the same, my temperature's through the rough_

Jacob swayed his body like a male stripper giving her a private show, making a certain part of her body flame with interest. She cupped her hands over her mouth to prevent the soda from coming out with her spewing laughter.

_If there's a camera up in here then it's gon' leave with me when I do_

_If there's a camera up in here then I best not catch this flick on YouTube_

Bella pretended to snap a picture when Jacob posed against the refrigerator. He smacked a kiss in her direction, making a little soda leak out of her mouth. She was laughing. She could hardly contain it. She was going to lose at this stupid game and she was going to lose badly. Bella still couldn't believe that he had talked her into this.

_Cause if you run your mouth and brag about this secret rendezvous_

_I will hunt you down_

Bella made her hands into a gun and acted out shooting him. Jacob clutched his heart and fell to the ground. She clapped her hands in amusement, tears leaking out of her eyes. He crawled around for a while, clutching at his heart, and pulled himself up on the counter tops.

_Touch my body, put me on the floor_

_Wrestle me around, play with me some more_

His big hands roamed down his own body, feeling himself up. Bella clapped again, her face becoming redder with the more time that she contained her laughter.

_Touch my body, I know you like my curves_

"Hips don't lie," he yelled over the loud music, thrusting his pelvis into the cabinets. Bella's eyes widened like saucers again. He was like a damn experienced Chippendale. She wondered what other night jobs he had besides running patrols around the Reservation.

_Come on and give me what I deserve!_

Bella lost herself when Jacob smacked his own ass, soda spewing out of her mouth and trickling onto her shirt. Jacob burst into a fit of hilarity with her, the sound of his ridiculous laughter urging her on further.

Once the laughter died down, he sat back down in front of her. She sniffed loudly, wiping a tear out of the corner of her eye. "I feel sticky," she said, motioning to her soaked top. Jacob snorted and Bella began to laugh quietly again.

0o0o0o0o

She couldn't stop laughing for ten minutes. They were in the laundry room when things finally turned more serious. "Give me the shirt," he said softly. "I'll wash it up and you can wear one of my t-shirts while you wait for this one to be washed and get dried."

"Alright," she nodded in agreement. "Just don't look."

"It's not like I haven't seen you with a bra on before," Jacob pointed out with a cocky, arrogant grin. It so wasn't him. "Just give me the shirt."

"Just turn around then!" she squealed, pushing at his chest. He laughed again, turning his back. She peeled off the soda soaked shirt, relieved to finally be free of the dampness.

"Okay, here."

He turned around to retrieve the shirt when he received a blow to the head with a pillow. "Bells—"

"You said you wouldn't look!"

"I'm just getting the shirt—"

SMACK

"Alright, that's it!" He lunged at her, tacking her to the ground quickly. She screeched, becoming defenseless as his heavy body pinned hers to the ground. "Why hit your Personal sun?"

She laughed deep in her stomach, the sound unusual to her ears. "Get off me, you big lug."

"Speaking of Personal sun," he tugged her sweatpants down a little to reveal the sun tattooed near her pelvic bone. She gasped, not knowing what he was going to do next.

She wanted to push him away, but her hands were pinned down tight. It wasn't right—he had a girlfriend and his fingers trailed any lower…she'd lose it.

"When did you get the tattoo?" he asked quietly. She squirmed out from underneath his fingers, her sweatpants inching back up to assume their normal position.

"Two years ago," she whispered, swallowing the lump of nerves that had been balling up in her throat. "It was a snap decision. I was out with my friends and we were a little buzzed. I got a sun…and I didn't realize the meaning of it until it was on my skin the next morning."

"You didn't mean to get a personal sun tattooed on you?" He looked a little hurt by her words, his brow furrowed and his mouth slightly opened in shock. Bella felt a zap of guilt set off some sort of trigger in her heart.

"I was thinking about you nonstop the whole entire week…" she told him. "I'd been wanting to get the tattoo for a while but when I went in I didn't even realize I got it until the next morning." It was clarified, and he felt a little better about the tattoo. And that he didn't get the bells tattoo for nothing.

He let her go, revealing the black lacy bra she had underneath her shirt. He exhaled loudly in a sigh that relieved sexual frustration. "Like I said before," he wheezed. "Black is a damn good color on you."

She turned as red as a ripe tomato and got up quickly. His eyes wandered to her chest and she instinctively covered herself up to prevent him from staring. "Can I…uh, er…" she stuttered. "Can I h-have a t-shirt to w-wear?"

He handed her his one of his clean t-shirts that he had in the drying machine and she slipped it over her head. She had soda on her bra as well, but she wasn't going to dare tell him that. Too risky, especially with the way he stared.

Like she was something to eat.

Big bad wolf wanted a piece of the little lamb.

0o0o0o0o

Jacob had run outside to haul in some of the logs he'd chopped earlier for the fireplace. Bella sat on the couch and watched him as he threw the heavy wooden logs into the fireplace. She watched as his taut muscles ripped beneath his copper-colored skin, jumping as he tensed up. He grabbed a match and set the logs aflame.

He threw the last log into the fire, wiping his hands off and standing back to look at his work in satisfaction. The way the firelight danced and shadowed off of his face made him look ten times beautiful. And he was hundreds of millions of times beautiful to her.

She loved his hair, how it had grown a little past his chin and how he could tie it back into a little ponytail at the back of his head. She loved his soft chocolate eyes that stared at her with adoration and respect, even after all of those years of endlessly torturing him with the idea of her having a deep relationship with Edward, his sworn enemy.

She couldn't lie and say that she never felt guilty about all of the pain she caused him. No, she couldn't say that at all. Many a night she remembered keeping herself awake crying because she was weighed down by guilt. She was breaking her best friend's heart and he was slipping from her grasp like water through her open fingers.

He was shirtless as always. She was admiring his muscles as always, and his beautifully colored skin. His tattoos and body mass made him look so masculine, so handsome. And she thought to herself: how could she of ever hurt this man? It was virtually impossible ever since she came back to Forks. She felt like she owed him so much.

She always used him as a rebound, always her second choice in love. But she swore her heart on it—it would never be that way again. He would always be her first choice, her only choice. If only he'd have her. If only if he didn't have Zee. She could try with the fullest of her heart to make things better again. Like they originally were. She was never without love when she was around him. He'd always find a way to make her smile.

He turned and collapsed on the couch next to her. Jacob sighed loudly, catching her attention. She turned her head, though still lying limp on the couch. "You're so beautiful," she blurted. Her hands flew to her mouth as she realized what she said. It wasn't like she didn't mean it, because she really did.

Jacob just grinned at her and laughed softly. "Thanks," he murmured. His hand flew to the lock of hair that was hanging down before her eyes. He tucked it behind her ear slowly, sensually, making zaps of pleasure run through her body. It was electrifying beyond she could have ever believed. And in a husky voice he whispered more softly, "You're beautiful too, honey. Really fuckin' beautiful."

Something was pulling him towards her at that moment. Everything seemed so perfect. Outside, the sounds of nature during the night serenaded them. The soft glow of the fire was casting dim shadows across her beautiful face, her smile dancing in his mind like a permanent vision.

His wolf was howling. His wolf was going crazy beneath his skin and he had no clue why. He was close to his Bella now. His heated forehead rested against hers, the tip of his nose touching hers. He nuzzled her nose softly, feeling the warm puff of air of her breath. She smelled like mints…and sprite soda.

There was a magnetic pull, a force pulling his lips to hers. His lips brushed against hers, not a kiss quite yet, but it was a start. It was like a flame just began to burn brighter. He was going to kiss her. He was going to kiss her until she begged for air to breathe. And there was no doubt that she wanted it as well. Just as he swooped in for the kill…

Ring-ring-ring.

"Fuck!" The phone went off loudly, causing him to practically jump away from her. She sprang off the couch in fright. He retrieved his phone from the counter and looked at the picture. It was a photo of him kissing a smiling Zee on the cheek. She looked happy. He looked happy. He declined the call and slammed the phone down on the table.

How could you do this? Zee loves you. She's right for you, and you repay her by kissing another woman? The angel on Jacob's shoulder screamed.

Fuck the angel, the devil on Jacob's other shoulder shouted back. This is payback to Zee for cheating on you with that Res manwhore. Kiss Bella. Kiss her again.

Jacob growled loudly and rubbed his temples in small circles. He looked back at her. Bella was standing at the door with her purse and her wet shirt in a plastic bag. "It's late, and Charlie wants me home tonight." She opened the door. "I had a great time, you know."

Something inside of him cracked. "Bella, please…don't leave just yet. Stay the night again. Please."

She stepped outside and smiled meekly at him. "Goodnight." She knew that what happened on the couch would stay in her mind forever. It would haunt her, follow her like a shadow on a sunny day.

They'd almost kissed.

He'd been so close.

She'd been so close.

The kiss they shared wasn't right, and she knew that. He was with his girlfriend, he claimed he was happy, and he claimed that he was happy that she left. She couldn't jeopardize the fact that he was actually happy for once.

But yet she couldn't ignore the slightest detail that his precious girlfriend cheated on him and she deserved him less than she did. And Bella didn't deserve him at all. She could never get over how sweet and considerate he was to her. He was always a friend to her, even when she really didn't deserve anyone.

_Yeah, I'll always be your friend. No matter what you love._

Jacob would do anything to protect her. He was always looking out for her best interest. He would patrol by her house to make sure none of the vampires were sneaking past the Res borders.

_I'll fight for you, Bella._

He was always so headstrong. He really knew what he wanted, and when he wanted something, he'd work to get it.

_The only girl I'm interested in is taken._

_You need to know that I'm in love with you and I want you to choose me instead of him._

Except he never got it, and that tore her apart inside. He'd worked so hard for her love. He would have done anything, been anything for her. He was what she would call a 'true lifelong' friend. And she appreciated his friendship the most.

Y_ou wouldn't have to change for me, Bella…or say goodbye to anybody. I can give you more than him._

He was so strong, and valiant. He fought for what he believed in, and he believed in her. Jacob was about the only one that believed in her still.

_I'll be there, until your heart stops beating…maybe even then._

But she chose what she thought she needed most. She chose wrong, so terribly wrong. Jacob was still there for her, even though the love of his life was getting married to his sworn enemy. Even though he knew that she would become a vampire and live forever with her bloodsucker, as a bloodsucker as well. And he would have still been there.

_You'd think I'd be used to telling you goodbye by now._

She climbed into her truck and wiped away the tear that had escaped from her eye. Shoving the keys into the ignition, she fired up the engine and drove away. It hurt. It really did.

Inside the house, Jacob sat on the couch with his head cradled in his arms. The cell phone rang again, and again, and again. Zee was trying to get a hold of him. He didn't care. Jacob simply just didn't give a fuck.

He wanted her to come back. He wanted to sleep next to her, feel her tiny body pressed against his. He wasn't going to lose her again. Not while he had her in his firm grasp. He declined Zee's phone call again and shut it off quickly.

He paced around the room, fingers tugging at his short black hair as he stressed himself out. Then he saw the glass bowl that Zee had made for him on his birthday a year ago. It was sitting on a glossy maple display table.

Painted on the porcelain there was a russet wolf and a crappy painted portrait of herself petting the wolf. It made him see red. He snatched the bowl from the table and whirled it at the wall.

He watched in satisfaction as it shattered into hundreds of tiny shards. Fine china glittered the floor. Jacob kicked the table, watching as it fell to the floor with a loud 'clunk.' He rubbed his temples, collapsing again on the couch.

Jacob's wolf was chewing him up inside to be closer to her.

_Go after her, you fool. Get on the fuckin' bike and ride the hell after her._

He looked at the fire and shook his head. Going to the bedroom, he shut the door and locked it. That night, the bed was cold despite his unnatural body heat. _Cold._

0o0o0o0o

**Dictionary: **

**Ayasochid: How are you? [directed to a woman.]**

**Hachli ho: I'm good/well.**

**Please review, my lovelies. I love suggestions and comments and just anything else that you take your sweet time to write for me. :) Oh, and don't forget to check out the trailer!**

**MANY hugs and smooches,**

**Courtney**


	8. Chapter 8

_Russet_

**A/N: Hi all! I'm back with Chapter 8. Also, I hope you checked out the trailer. I sort of gave away some spoilers, but I think you all know who Jake would end up with. And everyone: **_**remember the importance of the dog tag that Jake was wearing around his neck.**_

**FYI: The Bloated Toad restaurant is actually a real restaurant in Port Angeles. In the movie/book it's supposed to be called La Bella Italia, but the real name is **_**the Bloated Toad**_**, believe it or not! It's the restaurant where Edward takes her after he saves her from those molesters in the first movie. But we're going to pretend that he didn't take her there for her and Jake's sake.**

**Also, when I talk about Jake having a beard, I don't mean a full on Duck Dynasty hairy beard. I talk about a beard that's tamed, shaved down and just dark enough so you can see the outline of a beard on his chin.**

**Let me confirm the ages of the pack members. Emily-26, Kim-22, Lark-19, Bella-23, Rachel-27. Sam-28, Jared-22, Seth-19, Jake-22, Embry-22, Paul-23, Benji-15, Beckett-14**

**Song for the chapter: Young and Beautiful by Lana Del Ray  
**

**Chapter 8**

"When I have a baby her name's going to be Amaryllis. I freakin' love that name."

Lily. She was an interesting friend. Her parents had named all of siblings after plants, and she had eight other siblings. She remembered all of the names of the siblings, too: Violet Rose, Poppy, Daisy, Hazel, Fern, and for the boys, Bud, Aster, and Forrest.

She'd spotted him through the crowds and left her table five to Lily. It was about nine o' clock at night (she always worked later on Wednesdays) and usually Jake wasn't the drinker type. Especially not at late night scenes like these.

_Well you don't know,_ Bella's conscience hissed at her. _You've been away for years. Maybe he is a drinker. Maybe you just don't know._

"What are you doing here?" she asked him over the chattering of the other customers. He looked up from his phone and smirked at her.

"Hey to you too," he said in that deep, seductive voice. Chills ran through her body. She looked down at herself. She was wearing her black bar apron that had _Bella_ sewn onto her top with gold letters. "I'm here to get a drink."

The Bloated Toad restaurant had been the one place where she'd wanted to work for a long time. She worked the later shift, tending to the people who planned on getting drunk since none of the morning jobs were available. Hell, she just took what she got.

Suddenly she remembered her place as a waitress and took out of her order booklet and pen. "What can I get you?" He chewed on his lip for a moment before deciding on a kamikaze in a small glass.

Nodding, she took his order back to the bar table. Lily was back there, staring back at her table with widened eyes. She popped her gum as Bella came back into the room and came back to the drinks station to fill a tequila slammer for her customer at table 5.

"Girl," she whispered. Bella looked over at her, combining the drinks together into one glass.

"What?" Bella looked back at Lily, who was staring at her with her big green eyes. She popped off the tab of a bottle of orange liquor and poured some in.

"You know him?" Lily handed her a sliced lime. Bella took a slide and adorned the glass with it.

She nodded her head, situating the lime so that it was sitting perfectly on the ridge of the glass. "Yeah, that's my friend Jake. We've known each other for ages." Bella replied. She swore that every single girl was lusting after Jacob Black. It was completely ridiculous and utterly annoying. "Is he single?"

"No," Bella said. "He's got a girlfriend."

Lily put her hands on her hips. "Hmm, let me guess. You?"

"Nope." She took the drink back to him and watched as he set down the phone and turned off the light.

"Sit with me," he told her, gesturing to the empty seat. He took his kamikaze and sipped.

Bella shook her head, her ponytail bouncing. "I can't. I have to work—Mr. Davis will fire anyone on the spot if he sees them wasting time and sitting around chatting."

He raised an eyebrow and licked his lips in an antagonizing way. "Are you sure you can't spare a minute for your good ol' personal sun? I mean, it's a slow night. I'm sure your job won't be jeopardized if you sit and talk to me. After all, you are the Chief's daughter. He wouldn't dare fire daddy's little princess."

She scowled at him. "I'm not 'daddy's little princess', Jake. You make me sound like a helpless young girl that can't do anything without my father's word." She sat down in the chair on the opposite side of him and set down her order book.

He smirked. It worked every time. He leaned back in the booth and gazed at her. "I miss you." The words came out like a rocket; he didn't even recognize his own voice at that point.

She blushed under the soft glow of the orange lights in the bar. "I've only been away for a night," she pointed out softly.

Jacob nodded, feeling his phone out as it vibrated. He had yet another text message from Zee. He ignored it and shoved it back into his jean pocket. "I know," he murmured. "But I wish you hadn't left."

"I had to get back to Charlie," she said.

"Billy was with Charlie that night," he quickly responded. "Billy said that Charlie wasn't expecting you home until later. You could have stayed."

She felt her mouth become dry and the air around them become harder and harder to breathe in. "Jake…" she murmured. His eyes grew hard and the muscles in his jaw jumped as he ground his teeth together.

"Tell me what I did." He kept his voice low, but to her it was loud and powerful. It was an angry voice, an upset one. "Tell me what I did to make you leave. Did…did I do something wrong? Did I do something to make you turn and leave?"

"No, you didn't—"

"Then why did you go?" he asked her heatedly.

"Jake…"

"Why? Tell me!"

"Because you have a girlfriend, Jacob Black!" she shouted back at him. Lily looked over from the bar counter at hearing her voice. He looked down, his black eyes filled with anguish. "And…I'm not your girlfriend."

He brought his hand to his chin and scratched the black stubbly beard there. His eyes looked glossy and red as he fought his feelings. "I know…I just want…"

"What?" she asked him. "What do you want of me?"

"I just want _you_."

Lily floated over to their table with her tray full of drinks and food. "Bella, sweetheart…" she murmured in her sweet 'belle' accent. "I need some help with table number seven. Care to help me out?"

"Yeah," Bella said. And without looking back once, she followed Lily to the other part of the bar. Jake finished his kamikaze and stared out the window. It was raining. Again. He threw some dollars onto the table and left.

0o0o0o0o

[You've got to give her some time,] Embry told him. [You can't expect her to just, you know, be fine with it.]

Jake glared at him and lifted his nose to the air. There was still nothing. He was running his shift with Embry, and there seemed to be no sign of any leeches lurking around the area.

_Fuck off, Call._

[You might want to listen to me, man. I knew everything when I was with Katie.]

Then why'd you break up with her?

[Too clingy.]

The rain was coming down harder now. It soaked his russet coat, weighing him down immensely. Embry crossed the path in front of him and snaked around a few of the trees. Jacob growled at him.

_Don't worry about Bella._

[Man, if you don't want her, give her to someone who does.]

Jacob jumped at Embry, baring his fangs for his friend to see. He pounced and tackled the silver wolf to the ground, his large mouth engulfing the other wolf's neck.

_If you touch her, I'll rip out your neck._

[I wasn't stating that I wanted her! Let me go, Jake.]

Growling, Jacob retreated to the darkness. Embry stood and shook the mud off of his coat. He bared his teeth and trotted the other way.

{Control your anger. It will do you no good.} Sam's voice erupted in his mind.

_I don't need you telling me what I need to do._

{No, maybe you don't. But yet again, I don't think you want to lose her again.}

_Fuck you._ Jacob pushed away his emotions once again. He began to run and run, the stinging rain blowing in his eyes. He couldn't see.

{Go home, Jacob. Rest.}

It was dark. It was raining, and it was windy. He wanted nothing more than to go the hell home.

0o0o0o0o

Bella looked out of Kim's bedroom window and saw all of the guys sitting in a circle around the fire. She could hear Quil's laughter from all the way up in the bedroom. Beer bottles clanking, fire roaring, sex stories and guy talk being passed around.

Emily, Kim, Lark, and Rachel were gathered in the corner like a bunch of teenagers. They'd been trying on the new lingerie they'd bought at the mall the day earlier. Bella hadn't gone with them, but they'd bought her two outfits anyway. Rachel lounged in a devil red lacy bra and panties while Kim was adorned in a simple white babydoll and fishnet stockings.

Emily wore a pink dress with her black lacy bra and panties underneath. She was the less kinky one out of the group. Lark went all out, despite her age. She wore her blue corset that was incredibly sheer in some areas. Lark had picked out her lingerie—a dark green babydoll dress and a pink sheer. There was no way she would even come close to putting those things on.

"Come on, Bella!" Lark purred. "I spent fifty dollars on those two outfits."

Bella shook her head again. "No. I didn't ask for lingerie…so it's not my fault you wasted fifty dollars."

Rachel looked over at her and narrowed her eyes. "I _dare_ you to put one of the outfits on. I honestly don't think you can do it."

"Yeah," the others agreed. "If you're not a wuss, you'll do it."

"But I _am _a wuss," Bella complained.

Emily stood and wrapped a robe around her body before pushing Bella into the bathroom with the first outfit—the dark green corset.

She took a daring look at the piece of lingerie and started stripping down until she was completely naked. Then she quickly slipped the corset and matching panties on.

"I look terrible," she complained. Her boobs were so small that they didn't even fill the top half of her corset. It didn't fit her right.

Lark suddenly pushed open the door and all of the girls looked inside. Rachel rolled her eyes. "Jesus Bella, you have to tighten and button it first."

0o0o0o0o

"No one's going to come in the house. The guys never would leave their bonfires." Emily lied. Kim had told her that Jacob, Embry and Seth were all on their way into the house to get more beers and hot dogs from the fridge. The girls hadn't allowed Bella to get back into her normal clothes, so she still wore the corset.

"But why do I have to get the popcorn?" Bella complained, pulling Kim's blanket up to her chin.

"Because," Rachel said in exasperation. "We've all done it countless times before. No one's going to see you in your lingerie! Take Lark if you want."

Lark knew of Kim's plan and knew that Seth would be walking into the house in a couple of minutes. She didn't bother to put a robe on for Embry or Jake—it was Seth she was concerned about. "Come on, Bella!" Lark grabbed the older girl's skinny arm and tugged her down the stairs.

"Do you guys always stare at each other half naked?" Bella asked shakily.

Lark giggled and smiled widely. "We're all girls, Bella. And we work to please our men with these chats and lingerie shows."

Bella nodded her head slowly, trying to understand. Somehow she still couldn't. She opened a few of the snack cabinets, looking for the popcorn. "I can't find it," she said. "And I don't want to be down here much longer."

"Oh, relax." Lark smiled at her and waved the box of popcorn around in the air. She fetched the bowl as Bella threw the bag into the microwave for a few moments. She leaned against the counter as the time ticked by slowly.

Before she could even react, she heard footsteps behind her and a soft, "Holy fuck." Bella whirled around instinctively to see who it was, making a big mistake. Rachel had fixed the front of her corset so that her breasts were presented perfectly and the middle was attached to her curves.

There stood Jake, Embry and Seth. Both Embry and Jake were gaping like Venus fly traps trying to catch bugs when they saw her. Seth's focus was on Lark's baby blue corset. His eyes became black and she swore she saw drool.

Bella shrieked slightly, running to hide behind Lark, who was shielded by her imprint. The microwave beeped loudly, signaling that the popcorn was done. With lightning quick reflexes, Jake opened the microwave door and handed the bowl of popcorn to Bella.

Lark saw the connection. Smirking, she pushed out of Bella's way and tumbled into Seth, grabbing his shirt and yanking him into the pitch-black living room. Mortified at her shield having left, she tossed the bowl of popcorn onto the counter and used her hands and arms to cover any exposed flesh.

Jake's pupils grew as large as baseballs (or so it seemed) and she could see the heat radiating off of him like a steam engine train. "Mmm…"

Embry cleared his throat and Jake snapped out of his trance. Realizing that it was the only chance she had to make a run for it, she darted up the stairs without looking back once.

"The popcorn…" Jake murmured, glancing at the bowl as he watched her run up the stairs. He shook his head and rubbed his temples in shame. "I won't be able to sleep tonight."

Embry laughed and nudged him in the side. "I'll admit, she's got a great body." The muscles in Jake's jaw tightened and his swallowed the lustful lump in his throat. He felt heat flame in his southern region, a red dragon tightening pleasurably.

"Hot dogs," Jake reminded. "And beer." Embry threw open the refrigerator and laughed again.

"Man, that's like a once in a lifetime sort of thing. Two girls in lingerie…"

0o0o0o0o

Bella had returned the lingerie to Lark, saying that she didn't think she would ever need it ever again. It was two days since the lingerie incident, and she hadn't heard from Jake or Embry. She picked up the phone and dialed Embry's number.

Hello?

"Hey Embry, it's Bella."

Hey doll face, how have you been?

"I've been great. I just haven't heard anything from you guys in two days and I thought it was maybe because of the whole lingerie thing…"

_Oh yeah, now I remember. I wouldn't sweat it. You really do have a nice body, Swan. I never would have expected to walk into Kim's in see you in lingerie._

"Thanks." She whispered it awkwardly. "And I know…it wasn't my idea, okay? They forced me, threatened me…" He laughed on the other line.

_You're welcome. And about Jake…I really don't know. He hasn't been answering anyone's calls or texts. Not even mine._

"That's weird. Has he been coming to patrols?"

No, Sam let him have a break.

"I thought Sam didn't allow breaks…"

He usually doesn't but I guess Jake has a pretty good reason that he persuaded the Alpha. I can't hear anything from his mind either. He doesn't phase often, and I can hear him the best when he's in his wolf form. I mean, I can still sort of hear him but it's like bits and pieces that don't make any sense. Sometimes it's about a plane, fist-fighting, sex, and some random animals sounds. More or less a dog.

Bella laughed inside of her head—so that's what he was thinking. "I don't know Embry, it's kind of making me a little bit jumpy now that I think about it. He's been texting me nonstop this past week and after Saturday, it kind of just…stopped."

You know what, I'm on the way to his house right now. I'm about a minute away from your place if you wanted me to come pick you up. We could go together…?

"Yeah, I'm up for that. I'll get my coat on."

Alright, I'll see you in a minute.

"Okay, bye."

Bella rushed to the door, slipped on her brown leather boots and her matching winter coat. As promised, Embry's jeep pulled into her driveway. She raced out into the cold, and joined him in the passenger seat. He wore a black leather jacket, his hair slicked back nicely.

Embry shaved, and she could see the smooth plains and hard ridges of his face clearly. He grinned at her and rubbed her back soothingly. "Ready?" he asked her. She nodded and pushed her hair out of her eyes.

He started the engine up and drove down the road to Jacob's house. There was a white car in the driveway. "I know that car," she whispered softly, pointing. "It's Zee's car. So…she must be home early."

Bella instantly frowned. Jacob was probably giving her some welcome home 'love.' Sam probably understood, because he and Emily went nonstop, or so she said. But two days? And after all the times that she'd slept over at his house and he spooned next to her. Could he forget the almost kiss? Could he forget the incident with the soda and Mariah Carey, and how he had to wash her shirt? And the time when she saw him naked and felt his erection against her?

Embry pulled into Jake's driveway and silenced the engine. He got out of the car, and Bella followed him. She looked at the house in amusement. It was a small wooden house with a very large garage (for Jake's business). There was a ramp built for Billy leading up to the front door, which was painted a crappy color of white.

He looked over at her and snaked his arm through hers, pulling Bella closer to him. "You're shaking," he commented.

"I'm cold," Bella said, looking up at him. The cold bit at her skin and blew her hair into disarray. She was pretty sure her nose was running, but the winter air had numbed everything.

Embry laughed. He went to knock on the door, but stopped abruptly when he heard a loud crash inside of the house.

"**You should be happy!"** Zee's voice echoed in the house.

"Get the fuck away from me!" There was Jacob's voice. "I can't believe you!"

Bella looked up at Embry in an alarmed manner, her eyes widened instantly.

"**You ungrateful asshole! You're a heartless beast!"**

"I swear to god, if you come any closer…fuck, I'm gonna phase."

"**I'm not afraid of you anymore…Jake, please! That's my mother's vase. Don't break…"**

CRASH!

"We should go in and see what the hell's going on," Bella said, beginning to panic. She reached for the door handle, but Embry stopped her. "He said he's going to phase!"

Embry looked at her warningly. "Let him handle this. I've known him forever, and I know he can control his anger. He won't hurt her."

Bella found herself becoming angry and upset. Embry was pulling her off of the porch with ease. He tugged her into his arms and she slid down the wooden wheelchair slope. He forced her back into the jeep and quickly entered through the other side.

Jake suddenly stormed out of the house and phased instantly, his wolf escaping into the forest. Embry stopped to watch as Zee came out of the house, sobbing her eyes out and holding a small white stick in her hand. "Jake!" she cried. "Come back!"

Quickly, Embry pulled out the driveway and sped down the road. Jacob's tone of voice was terrifying. Zee's trembling voice remained in her head. You should be happy!

"Embry…?" she asked softly. He glanced over at her momentarily before locking his eyes back on the road.

"Yeah?" he asked. She laid her hand over his on the center console and felt his warmth seep through her skin.

"What do you think they were talking about?"

Embry sighed and shook his head. "Jeez, I'm not one hundred percent positive, but I think I might have an idea."

"Is it the same thing I'm thinking of?" she asked timidly.

Nodding his head, "Probably."

Bella pinched her lips together and frowned. "Well…that's not good."

Embry grinned humorlessly. "Hell, it's not."

0o0o0o0o

**I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. Leave me a review and tell me what you think about the ending scene. What's going on with Jake and Zee?**

**Hugs and Smooches,**

**Courtney Howlett**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Okay, well this is a HUGE step for Bella and Jacob in this chapter. I felt like it was perfect where I decided to cut it off, so sorry for the shortness.**

**WARNING: Rated M for a reason, so those underage, I'm warning you right now.**

**Song: Give Me Love by Ed Sheeran**

**Chapter 9**

_.~.~.~. Give me love like never before, 'cause lately I've been craving more.~.~.~_

Bella opened the door to him at almost nine o' clock at night. His face was stained with dried tears and he held a half empty beer bottle in his left hand. She gasped, her eyes widening. "We need to talk," he sniffed, using his forearm as a tissue. It took her a moment to process everything before she called to Charlie that she was going to be going out with him for a while.

He waited at her doorway while she slipped on her winter coat and her furry brown boots. "Are…are you okay?" she asked him. He shut his mouth and walked back to his black pick up truck. She followed him out the door and jumped into the passenger seat. The silence was really making her jumpy. Something wasn't right here.

He took a swig of his beer before shoving his keys into the truck's ignition. "Do you know any place where we could be alone?" he asked, his eyes locked on the steering wheel. "Where no one would hear us, or interrupt us?"

She licked her lips and rubbed her chilled hands together. It was an odd question for him to ask, but she trusted him. "Well, First Beach is always empty at this time of night," she suggested.

He nodded and started to back out of the driveway. "Yeah. Good idea."

"Wait!" she interrupted him. He hit the brakes and glanced over at her. She gulped and pointed at his beer bottle sitting in the cup holder. "Are you sober to drive?"

He nodded his head and cleared his throat, the smell of beer in the air. "Werewolves can never get drunk enough."

0o0o0o0o

Jake walked next to her on the beach, the beer in his glass bottle sloshing around loudly. She held a flashlight in her hand walking next to him. Since he was a werewolf, he had great nocturnal vision even when he was in his human form. Normally she would have been wary to walk on First Beach at night, but she had a werewolf for protection. Nothing would harm her while he was there with her.

"So, what did you need to talk to me about?" she asked him, walking closer to where he was walking. Stuffing her hand into her jean pockets, she looked over at him. The moon was high in the sky and the reflection rippled across the ocean water. "Are you okay?"

He took another swig of beer and groaned loudly. "This is so complicated," he said, sniffing again. Jake shook his head and looked down at his footprints in the wet sand.

She reached over and took his hand, feeling his warmth seep through her skin. "You know you can tell me anything, right? I'll listen. I'm here for you, Jake…and I always will be." He laughed humorlessly and yanked his hand out of her grasp. Warmth left her immediately and was replaced by _cold._

"I'm done," he said. She looked over at him, not quite understand fully. "I left…Zee. I left her."

She blinked in astonishment. Clearing her throat, she nodded and pushed the hair out of her eyes. "Why did you leave her? What happened?"

Jake chewed his lip, his eyes sparkling with tears again. She could see that he was really upset about this. He was trying his hardest not to cry in front of her, but his attempt was failing. "We got in fight…because she got pregnant."

That comment hit Bella so hard that she could almost physically feel it. She furrowed her eyebrows together and huffed softly. "Jake—that's great. Why would you leave her because she got pregnant?" He shook his head in disbelief and laughed loudly. She spluttered, "I…I don't know what to say. You know you gotta take responsibility for this. You can't leave her if she gets pregnant. I mean I can understand if you're not ready, but you still…"

The way it sounded when she said it made him feel like some horrible person. Like a deadbeat father that was getting ready to run away from his own mistakes. He seethed at her, his eyes flaming with red. "I told you it was complicated!" he yelled. "I knew it—I knew you wouldn't understand."

He sped up along the beach, leaving her in his dust. She shook her head and rushed after him, running in front of him to halt his movement. "Then make me understand," she said softly. "Help me…_understand_."

"Not mine." He whispered it so softly that she didn't hear everything that he said to her.

"What? I—I didn't hear you right," she told him.

"You did," he snapped. "It's not my kid. She cheated on me _again_."

Bella instantly shut her mouth and the feelings of the greatest hatred for the woman used to call his girlfriend stirred up again. She tried to understand for him. She tried to be there. "How do you know that she cheated?"

"I don't," he replied, stepping over a large piece of wet reed and swerving, yet again, farther away from her. She floated closer to him, refusing to be pushed away.

"Then how do you know that it's not yours?" Bella inquired. She studied his face in the pale moonlight, but she couldn't read his expressions. He remained emotionless, the door to his heart and true feelings still remaining locked. But then something cracked inside of him.

And a lone tear escaped down his cheek. That very tear broke her heart into two. She felt her eyes well up with tears—she wanted to cry with him. "Fuck," he cursed loudly. "Why…why me? What did I ever do to deserve this?"

"Nothing," she sobbed quietly, her emotion falling down her face in liquid droplets of tears. "You never, ever, deserved any of it."

"I lose every woman I love. First mom, then you, and now Zee. Do I do something to drive people away?" He whirled his empty beer bottle across the beach. She watched the waves take it away. She felt tears pour down her face. "What am I doing wrong?"

"You're doing nothing wrong," she said, rushing at him and embracing him tightly. Caught off guard, he stumbled backwards slightly. He struggled to push her away but she hung onto him like he was a rope that was suspending her over a volcano's mouth. "You were always so good to me." He stopped resisting her eventually, wrapping his arms around her tiny body and pulling her close.

"I know it's not mine, Bella," he whispered softly, resting his chin on top of her head. She squeezed him tighter and nuzzled her nose into his chest. "Because I can't father a child that's not my imprint's…and she's not my imprint." She looked up at him with her tear stained eyes, black mascara tears rumbling down her cheeks. He rubbed them away with the pad of his thumb. "You are."

She pulled away from him in shock, her eyes as wide as saucers. "What?"

He grinned and wiped away his tears. "Yeah. I imprinted on you."

More tears fell. This time in joy, not sadness and pity. "God…when?"

"The moment I first saw at the Garage when you came back to Forks," he said. "When you told me that you weren't with the leech any more. When you looked me in the eye and I dropped my wrench…that's when I knew that you were going to be a permanent part of my life and I wasn't going to mess it all up this time."

She drew closer to him and ran his fingers down his hot cheek. He swallowed the lump in his throat and looked at her with his soft brown eyes. And when he smiled her smile for her, she couldn't hold herself back any loner. She didn't have the willpower to.

So she kissed him hard on the mouth. And he kissed her back.

0o0o0o0o

She slid her hands over his broad chest, resting it on his pecks. His warmth quickly surrounded her and heated the cold hotel room as he began to undress himself. She peeled off her sweater and threw it to the ground. She turned around and let him unsnap her bra. His warm hands roamed over the soft plains of her back.

He slid the bra down her arms and threw it across the room. Biting her lip, she turned around to face him. His eyes slid over her naked chest as a soft moan escaped his lips. Feeling pressure under his lustful gaze, her arms came up to cross over her exposed flesh. "No, no, no…" he murmured, pinning her arms back to her side. She was surprised but she didn't fight him. "You're beautiful…so beautiful, Bella."

Jacob stared into her eyes with love, lust and passion. A sudden urge ripped through her body and she asked him the question she'd been longing to ask. "If you imprinted on me then, why did you push away all those times when I tried to get close to you?"

He pulled her close, her breasts molding against his sizzling chest. "I was afraid…" he whispered, nibbling on her earlobe. "Afraid of my feelings. And why you were making me feel _so good._"

He slid his boxers down his muscular legs and stepped out of them. Bella felt his erection spring up against her leg. She looked down to see what she was dealing with. Her eyes went wide again as she saw his nine-incher, probably the biggest she'd ever seen with her own eyes. Jake softly lowered her onto the bed, his lips devouring hers in a kiss. His hands massaged at her breasts roughly as he plunged his tongue into her mouth.

Kissing down her collarbone, he took one of her nipples into his mouth, swirling his tongue around the pink bud. He released it with a 'pop', a look of deranged lust in his eyes. She felt his manhood pressing up her core and with interest she wrapped it in her hand. His mouth fell open instantly and a groan floated from his perfect lips.

He liked the way it felt. She moved her hand up and down in a faster motion, intrigued by the sounds of pleasure that floated from his parted lips. Soon he was panting and sweating against her as his hips bucked to accord of her hand. This moment was what he'd been wanting for his whole life, and now it was actually happening.

"Enough," he told her, and moved her hand away from his cock. "I won't be able to last. But you…" He kissed down her body until he reached the tattoo of the personal sun. He kissed that appreciatively before ripping off her lacy panties in one motion.

With widened eyes, she propped herself up on her elbows in interest. He placed kissed to her inner thighs before inhaling her intoxicating scent. _Cherry and sugarcane…_

Without warning, he shoved his finger inside of her and massaged lightly from the inside. She threw her head back as he ducked his head between her legs and began to stimulate her with his tongue. His mouth suddenly became violent as the scent of her arousal captivated his wolf. The wolf was demanding release, demanding domination.

She moaned loudly, wrapping her legs around his head. He was making her feel like she was on a cliff and just wanted to jump off of it. She was getting closer and closer to something. He took her back into his mouth, his tongue swirling and delving into her entrance. His thumb played with the little bundle of nerves above her entrance and she arched her back, pushing those perfect breasts into the air. He knew that she was close—he could see it in her eyes. "Let go," he whispered softly.

Bella fell apart at that very moment, tumbling off of the pleasurable cliff. She cried out as she climaxed around his mouth and fingers. "Tastes good," she heard him mumble. Never had a man made her orgasm so hard.

He crawled up to he r body, kissing a hot open mouthed trail to her collarbone. And in one single thrust he was sheathed inside of her body balls deep. She cried out in both shock and pleasure. "Holy shit," he ground the curse into her jaw as his lips massaged her skin. Bella hadn't taken a lover in at least two years and she was bigger than anyone she'd ever been with…even Edward.

His restraint frayed quickly and sizzled away. Soon he was moving, pulling out and pushing back in, each stroke dragging liquid fire through her body. Bella clamped her lips over her moans as her hands gripped his firm backside tightly. He was taking it slowly, careful not to hurt her. She held his savage, lustful eyes as he drew his hips back and rammed into her so hard that the hotel bed slammed against wall.

"Jacob please," she moaned.

Like a cord had snapped, he checked out of lovey-dovey mode and started to fuck her.

Jake thrust harder, moaning and throwing his head back in pure rapture. "So good," he mumbled. "So wet, so fucking tight." The way she clenched around him every time a shockwave of pleasure rocketed through her body had him going crazy for more. She moaned loudly as he threaded his fingers through hers and angled himself deeper into her.

He pinned her arms above her head as his cock hit that one place where she wanted him most. The sensation was terrific with the way that she felt her core burning with such intense pleasure and need.

Electric coursed through her veins as he took her closer and closer to the climax that would blow her mind. He looked down at her, sweat clinging to his russet skin. She moaned again, her left hand moving to play with her own breast. "Fuck," he threw his head back and sped up the pace, the desire and lust for her becoming almost unbearable.

She could see that he was holding something back. His eyes would constantly turn from the familiar soft brown to the hard black color that she didn't know so well. "Let him go," she murmured to him. He looked down at her, his hands bracing him up. "Let your wolf claim his mate like he wants to."

Eyes rolling back into his head, he slammed into her at a frantic pace. When his eyes opened again, the hard black eyes were the ones staring back at her. It was primal, wild, and brilliantly terrifying. He pressed a gentle kiss to her lips to reassure her that the man was still inside of him.

"Tell me you that you accept the imprint," Jacob ordered.

She gripped his forearms tightly, trying to hold onto him as he drove himself into her. "God, Jacob…I accept it!" He leaned down and kissed her neck, the ministrations with his lower body still relentless. He sucked lightly on the skin, leaving a cherry red mark on the skin.

He grasped her hand tightly as his teeth penetrated her skin. She came at the exact moment he bit her, the pleasure-pain electrocuting her. The tightening of her walls around his cock triggered his climax as well. He shot his seed into her body, collapsing sweaty and heavy on top of her.

Burying his head into her neck, he realized what just happened between them. "I love you," he told her. He listened to her heartbeat and felt her chest rise and fall with each breath she took.

"I love you," she whispered back huskily. He grinned and rolled off of her. His wolf was very, very satisfied.

Reaching over the end of the bed, he fished through his jacket and pulled out a silver chain. Holding it up in the air, he let her inspect it. "For you," he told her. She turned around and swept her hair off of her neck, allowing him to put it on for her.

It was the dog tag that said 'RUSSET' on it. It was the one that she saw him wearing that day where she went to visit him at the Garage, when he was dancing with his now ex-girlfriend.

"I love it," she whispered, playing with it in her fingers.

Jake laid back against the pillows, urging her to come lay closer to him. She snuggled up against the side of his chest and kissed the skin there. "Every single one of the imprints has one of those dog tags. We have to wear ours until we find an imprint, and when we do…we give it to them." He touched the dog tag lying between her breasts and smiled brightly. "It's to let everyone know that you're the property of the _russet_ wolf now."

She chewed her lip, tracing the perfectly chiseled outlines of his muscled abdomen. "Jake?" He looked down at her. She gulped. "No more heartbreak, _ever._ Deal?"

He kissed the tip of her nose softly. "Deal."

0o0o0o0o

**Well, that's it for now. Sorry for the shortness! But I hope you liked it—I haven't written a lemon in a while.**

**Hugs and Smooches**

**Courtney**


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: Sorry this is so late…I've been pretty busy! Merry late Christmas and Happy (late) New Years! If you're wondering about the guitar scene, that's kind of my mind doing some tricks. In the books, Bella does not know how to play the guitar. In my story, she does. And because I make this shit up as I go along, I decided that Jacob will sing. Yeah. That's right. So I was just warning you before you asked that in the comments section! (And yes, Bella is kind of OOC.) :)**

**Chapter 10 **

"Jesus, Bella. What is that…?" Emily reached out to touch the silver chain that led into Bella's shirt. Bella's eyes widened, not quite understanding what the other woman was getting at. Then she looked down and realized that Emily was focused on the dog tags that were hidden beneath her shirt.

"Jake gave them to me," Bella whispered, wrapping her hand around the silver tags. Jake hadn't told anyone yet, so she didn't want to give away their secret. She wasn't sure if he'd want to tell just yet because he didn't exactly tell the whole pack that he broke up with Zee either.

Emily reached into her jean pocket and pulled out a similar chain. Instead of RUSSET printed on the metal tag, there was EBONY. She assumed that EBONY was the imprinting name for Emily since Sam's wolf was black.

"This was the dog tag Sam gave to me when he imprinted on me," Emily said slowly. "He said that the pack members will only give the dog tags to those who they've imprinted on."

Bella blushed a deep color of red as Emily found out just what was going on. "No freaking way, chica. No way!" the other woman screeched louder than a screeching owl.

Bella couldn't help but smile. "Em, keep it down. Sam will hear."

Just as she said it, Sam waltzed in after hearing Emily's cry. He, as her wolf, was obligated to make sure that she was safe at all times. "Is everything okay?" he asked. Emily nodded and handed him a banana muffin.

"Everything's perfect, Sammy." Emily replied, trying to hide her excitement. Sam glanced down at Bella, seeing the chain around her neck. Emily turned around as the timer on the stove went off, distracting her from her husband and her new pack member.

Sam grinned as Bella blushed under the heat of his gaze. "Welcome to the pack, Bella." He whispered to her, nibbling on his muffin. _Welcome to the pack,_ she thought. _It's more like welcome home. This is where I belong._

Bella's eyes widened. "He told you guys already?"

Sam shook his head and devoured the rest of the muffin in a single bite. Damn, could he eat. "He didn't need to with the way he's acting. And I see Emily already knows."

She nodded her head as Emily turned around. She handed Sam a bowl of vegetable beef soup and shooed him out of the room for some more 'girl talk' with Bella. "So," Emily began. "He finally broke up with that bitch?"

Bella nodded her head as Emily handed her a bowl of soup. "Yeah, but you'll never guess why." Emily took her bowl over to Bella's and leaned in closer.

"Spill it, sister."

"She got pregnant."

Emily gasped and slammed her hand down on the table. "No freaking way. And it's not his, right?"

Bella nodded her head in agreement. "It's not his."

Emily shook her head in disbelief. "Poor kid. He never really gets the happy endings he wants." She jabbed the younger girl in the side. "But now that you're back…I feel like he can finally get what he's always wanted; a sweet young thing to spend the rest of his life with him."

And Bella would without a doubt give that to him this time around. She wasn't going to mess it up a second time. She took her bowl and walked out into the dining room to see the boys all crowded around the table. Emily followed her with a tray balancing countless bowls of soup.

The guys chanted loudly and helped Emily hand out the bowls. Bella sat down next to Jake and he wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders. The arm felt nice around her, because she knew that she'd finally gotten the man she loved most.

0o0o0o0o0o

The doorbell sounded around dinner time. Bella was getting luckier and luckier, because every time Jacob paid a visit, Charlie was working late shifts at the police station. But this time she noticed something strange about him.

"Holy hell, Jake! Did you get in a fight?"

He shook his head and stepped inside. "I went back to Zee's and tried to pack up my stuff," he murmured. "She threw stuff at me."

She shook her head in astonishment and grabbed his hand. She pulled out her first-aid kit and poured some alcohol onto a swab. "I don't need to be healed," he told her. She frowned at him and pressed the cotton swab onto a scratch on his face.

He hissed in pain at her. "Just hush up and let me feel like I'm needed," she told him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into his lap. She squeaked and the cotton swab flew out of her hand.

He looked her straight in the eye, brown eyes sparkling. "You will _always_ be needed,_" _he said to her. His thumb and forefinger gripped her chin softly, forcing her to look him in the eye as well. When she did she felt fireworks go off inside of her. He had the sweetest eyes she'd ever seen.

She pressed her nose against his and he pressed a soft kiss to her lips. She took the cotton swab into her hand again and dabbed at his cuts and sores. It seemed like only yesterday since she'd accepted the imprint and he broke up with his girlfriend.

_Well, it kind of was. A week ago, to be exact._

"What did she throw at you, Jake?" she asked him, cleaning a trail of blood from his chin. "It looks like she got you pretty good, huh?"

He nodded his head and grinned slightly. "A vase, and a few more of her mother's bowls." When Zee had thrown them and they'd hit him, it didn't hurt at first. It was like getting punched in the face (which didn't hurt him) but then came the scratches and the bits of broken class lodged in his skin.

She grimaced and raced to the bathroom for something. He looked after her, wondering what he did to make her run away like that. His heart ached slightly. She came back a moment later with her hair tied up and tweezers in her hand.

Bella sat on his lap again and ran her soft fingers down the stubbly plains of his copper-toned cheek. "You…you have some glass in your face."

Jake couldn't help but laugh at how she said it. He gripped her waist tighter. She stared at him, puzzled at the reaction. "Zee was a vicious little thing," he commented. Bella grimaced again and clutched the tweezers tighter. "You could pick them out for me, if you wanted…"

She nodded her head and soon he saw tweezers descending down upon his face. He felt a sharp tug and saw her pull out the first chunk of glass. "This looks horribly painful," she commented. "How are you not in agony right now?"

"I'm a werewolf," he replied. "Werewolves are strong. We don't…ah! Damn!"

She laid a large chunk of bloody glass on a tissue and kissed his forehead. "I'm sorry, Jake. That was the biggest piece, I promise!" He rubbed her upper arms soothingly and nodded his head.

"It's okay, Bells. You didn't throw the vase at me," he snickered. Bella's pink lips turned upside down in a frown.

"You know, I hope you got all your stuff from that house before you left. I don't want you coming back with more glass in your face." She told him with a firm nod. She used the tweezers to pick out another piece of shiny glass out of the cleft in his chin.

He hissed again, jerking in pain. Bella bit her lip and grabbed another swab to dab at the blood that trickled down his chin due to the absence of the glass. "Sorry…"

He rubbed up and down her waist. "Listen, Bells…you can't tell anyone about this, alright? This wouldn't go over well…with the guys."

This time it was her turn to laugh. "What?" she laughed. "You don't want me to tell them that you got beat up by your ex-girlfriend?"

He pinched her side and she screeched. "Watch it, honey."

0o0o0o0o

"You know how to play the guitar?" she asked him. He sat on her bed with her Yamaha guitar in his hands, strumming out chords like he's been playing his whole life.

He shrugged his shoulders and played a little tune. "I taught myself when you left. I got bored after you left…so I took on some new hobbies. Guitar being one of them." Then he added, "This is a nice Yamaha."

She too had taught herself to play the guitar after Edward left and she became like a bump on the log for months and months. She didn't really enjoy listening to the radio's music anymore (because it reminded her of him) so she took to writing her own songs and crafting them on the guitar.

"Jeez, there's a lot of things I apparently don't know about you," she said. Then she disappeared into her closet, rummaging around for something.

His eyes followed her and his eyebrows knit together. "What are you doing?"

"Ah ha!" She said with triumph as she came out with an old guitar that she hadn't seen since her thirteenth birthday. "Lucy Mae, everybody."

Lucy Mae was the name of Bella's first guitar that she played like crazy for years up until the year of her thirteenth birthday when she got the Yamaha that Jacob was currently holding. "You wanna play a song, Bells?"

She sat down on the bean bag in front of him and checked the tune of her guitar. Still perfectly in tune after all of those years. "Yeah. What song did you want to play?"

"How well do you know The Civil Wars?"

Bella nodded her head furiously then laid a hand over her breast. "By heart, Jake."

He grinned. "I knew that. They're your favorite band, aren't they?"

She nodded again. "How did you know that?"

"I have my ways. Let's do _To Whom it May Concern._"

She strummed a few chords to make sure her guitar was working fine. "Verse is D, E minor, G. Chorus is G, B minor, A, G, D. Got that?"

He nodded his head and began to strum. There were many things that Bella Swan didn't know about Jacob Black. One, that he knew how to play the guitar. And two, that he knew how to sing. And he sung well, too.

"_Why are you so far from me? In my arms is where you ought to be…"_ He jerked his head at her. It was her turn now. Bella was still slightly shocked about his voice, but she opened her mouth anyways.

"_How long will you make me wait?"_ she sang softly, strumming the chords with the tips of her fingers. "_I don't know how much more I can take."_

They strummed on through the chorus, his eyes never leaving hers as they sang together. He strummed right back to the verse and cleared his throat.

"_Slowly counting down the days_," he sang. "_Until I finally know your name_."

Bella licked her lips. How it turned her on to hear him sing and play guitar with her. "_The way your hand feels 'round my waist… the way you laugh, the way your kisses taste."_

"_**I've missed you, but I haven't met you**__."_

Bella dropped her guitar and let it fall softly onto the carpeted floor. He gulped and set the other guitar down next to him. Before he saw her coming, she attacked him, forcing him back onto the bed. She pressed her lips to his and responded by grabbing her waist tightly and kissing her back.

He plunged his tongue into her mouth, softly tasting her. She moaned, but his mouth encased the noise. Pulling back, she looked him in the eye. "If there was a book out there about you, it'd be called _The Wonders of Jacob Black._ It'd have all your secrets and you hidden hobbies and talents…and I'd buy every copy."

He kissed her nose and grinned. "Well…then maybe I'll write _The Wonders of Jacob Black_ one day. And sell every copy to you."

She grinned at him. "You don't know how much I want you to be serious," she murmured. He chuckled and kissed her nose.

"You sing like an angel…better than Lark, almost. And if you've ever heard Lark sing, she's…she's good." Jacob said, his voice gruff and rugged as she trailed her fingertips down his bare thigh. She was distracted, but she snuggled into his side more firmly.

[Where the hell are you? I need to go.] Paul's voice sounded like an alarm in his head. [I've been waiting here the past 20 minutes for you to come. Rachel's at home with the kids and she just called me saying that Neko smacked his face on the end table after jumping off the damn couch.]

_Shit! I forgot. I'm over at Bella's, so it won't be long until I get there._

[Ahh, the imprint's house. I remember those flirty days. Remember when I wouldn't leave your house for hours when I first imprinted on Rach?]

_I remember it too well, asswipe. Don't remind me._

[Heh. Cock-blocked!]

_Get out of my head, Lahote._

[Then hustle it, kid. Put your dick back in your pants and scoot your little brown ass over to these damn woods. Bella can wait. Tell her you'll make it up to her later. That one always works with your sister.]

Jacob could practically see Paul smirking and winking through his mind. He knew exactly what Paul meant by 'making it up to her'.

_Fuck, man…she's my sister. Show some respect._

[Just relating.]

Jacob pushed a reluctant Paul out of his mind and turned his attention back to his Bella. She had been intently staring at him for the past five minutes where he was having a deep conversation with Paul in his head.

"Let me guess. You have to go?"

He nodded his head and stroked a path down her cheek all the way to the dog tag sitting happily on her perky breasts. "It's my time to patrol the Res. I lost track of time, being here with you." He chewed his lip, then added, "I promise I'll make it up to you later, though."

[Atta boy! Now you gotta wink at her so she gets that you're talking dirty.]

Jacob winked at her and flashed a smile. Bella seemed to get it at that very moment thus the blushing and holding in laughter. "Alright. Get on it, big daddy."

His eyebrows rocketed towards the sky. "Big…big daddy?"

She blushed again. "It's a nickname," she murmured, drumming her fingers on his muscular thigh and shooting her eyes down to his crotch.

"Jesus fuck." Jacob murmured and got up instantly, running a hand through his hair. She frowned at the loss of body mass and heat. "Bella, I really do have to go, before I start fucking you into oblivion."

"That wouldn't be so bad, would it?"

He grinned and walked out of her bedroom. "I love you so much, baby girl."

"Love you too, big daddy."

God, he loved that woman.

"I promise," he began as he stormed down the steps. "I promise I'll make it up to you!"

She nodded her head and stood at the top of the steps, watching him as he opened the front door. He looked back before he morphed into his wolf and ran out into the forest. "Alright…I'll be patiently waiting for your return."

He flashed her another grin and exited the house, shutting the door behind him. In some part of her it felt like she was missing something. Missing him. The force of the imprint was really starting to dawn on her. She could talk to Emily and Kim for support, for they'd been in the imprint game much longer than she had.

She touched the tags on her chest. They began to glow an orange color as she read the word printed on there. _That's right,_ she thought. _I belong to the russet wolf._

0o0o0o0o0o0o

**Thanks for reading! You all are awesome! **

**Thank you MarionV, The all mighty and powerfulM, chinadoll381282002, eb43, laugh0ften2012, echo58, jlove34, keepinitreal, corkykellems, Donum Gemini, springbreakers, PastOneonta, lilabug and Bookworm22 for the lovely reviews on the last chapter! Keep up the amazing work, guys!**

**Hugs and Smooches,**

**Courtney**


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